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A4 -The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday January 1, 2003 Hydro commission loses dedicated friend John R ankin w as spirited, hard w orking , sa y fa m ily a n d colleagues By Wilma Blokhuis OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Colleagues and acquaintances are remembering John C. Rankin as a hard working. forthright man who was involved in many things but always had the public's interest in mind. Mr. Rankin, a longtime member of the Oakville Hydro Commission, died Dec. 16 at the Toronto General Hospital from complications following surgery. He was 80. A funeral service was held Dec. 20 at St. John's United Church, followed by burial at Trafalgar Lawn Cemetery. Mr. Rankin was always outspoken in his dedication to the community, noted another local public official. "John was passionate about every thing he did," said Mayor Ann Mulvale. " He was known for his heated debates. John would say what he had to say and then it was over. After the meetings, he would walk you to your car. He was a real gentleman." Mr. Rankin served on the hydro com mission from 1973 until 1999, the year provincial legislation was passed giving municipalities the power to appoint local hydro commissioners. (Previously, they were elected by the citizens.) His main concern, election after elec tion. was to keep the price of hydro affordable. "At the lime (1999), Oakville Hydro was in excellent shape, thanks to the stewardship, in part, of John Rankin," said Mulvale, who served with him on the commission for 10 years. " We had many interesting debates." His tenure on the hydro commission included 13 years as chairman, said for mer mayor Harry Barrett. " He was a good friend. John was a very determined man, with very definite him." Noonan, general manager at the utility from 1974 until his retirement five years ago. said Mr. Rankin was the "ideal commissioner" and a " very futuristic sort of person who could, if a proposal came to the commission, analyse it and ask about alternatives and often offered a dif ferent way. Mr. Rankin's wife said her husband missed only one three-year term because of a conflict -- he was the chief architect for the Ontario Ministry of Education at that time. · After he retired from the ministry, he was re-elected to the hydro commission. "For him, it was his 'hydro family', she said. "He appointed himself as offi cial photographer over 25 years ago for Oakville Hydro's annual children's Christmas party, taking pictures of every child on Santa's knee every year." Mr. Rankin also sat on the Oakville Planning Board and the Site Plan Committee of the Oakville Planning Board, founded the Oakville Ratepayers' Association, sat on the Architectural Advisory Committee for the Glen Abbey Development, and was a member of the executive of the Ontario Municipal Electric Association. Mr. Rankin was with the Oakville and District Boy Scouts for 17 years, was a member of the Naval Club of Toronto, and was a founding member and on the board of directors of the Honey Harbour Boat Club from 1974-2002 -- he was a longtime cottage owner at nearby Go Home Bay. He was bom in Toronto on Sept. 2. 1922 but raised in Montreal. He attended high school at Pickering College, a pri vate boys school in Newmarket. While pursuing a degree in architec ture, Mr. Rankin interrupted his studies at Victoria College, part of the University of Toronto, to serve as a Royal Canadian Navy officer in the North Atlantic during the Second World War. Upon his return in 1945. he completed his education, graduating as a profession al architect from the University of Toronto in 1950. He travelled across Canada as chief architect for the Imperial Bank of Canada and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (after amalgamation with the Bank of Commerce in 1961). He later worked for the Toronto Board of Education's S.E.F. task force, and eventually retired as chief architect for the Ontario Ministry of Education in 1989. He w as' a Member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and a Life Member of the Ontario Association of Architects. Mr. Rankin moved to Oakville in 1952, "and got involved in everything." said his daughter, Kerri Peberdy of Oakville. He also served on the Oakville Trafalgar Bronte Amalgamation Committee, melding the then separate municipal entities, in the mid-1950s. Mr. Rankin was a volunteer canvasser for the United Way and the Canadian Red Cross Society, and on the executive of the Canadian Mental Health Association. " He was a very active and vocal com munity-minded person and a forward thinker who always looked at the big pic ture -- a very busy guy who never stopped," said his wife. " My father was a genuine gentlemen's gentleman, who always put family, friends and community first," said his son, Carl. Surviving him are his wife, four chil dren and two grandchildren. Our Entire Stock of Christmas Fabric & Trim m ings Plus an Exciting Special Selection of Sale held over to Jan 5/03 on in-stock merchandise. Most items available in most stores. Look (or the red sale tags Where competitive pricing in effect, the advertised savings wil be off our regular chan-store price. John C. Rankin thoughts, a clear-minded individual. He was an excellent hydro commissioner, someone who really cared for his com munity." Barrett added that Mr. Rankin was dis appointed that he was not named to the hydro board w hen the Town took over the operation of Oakville. "Deregulation of Ontario's hydro sup ply upset John," said Beverly, his wife of 38 years. "He had predicted that hydro rates would skyrocket with deregulation, and that they would double in less than a year, and he was right." she said. "He read the paper about a week before he went into the hospital and he said that he `took no consolation, joy or pleasure in knowing he had been right,' and added `things are just going to get worse." ' Ron Noonan, retired general manager of Oakv ille Hydro, said Mr. Rankin "was an outspoken voice for public power in Ontario. 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