Bruce Howard Rankin, an Oregon native, passed away of a sudden heart attack on November 12, 2020 in Bodrum, Turkey. He will be remembered by family and friends for his integrity, honesty and modesty. He chose to live life with a clear conscience.
Bruce was born on January 19, 1953 to Alice (Eschman) Rankin and Howard Rankin. He grew up in Portland, Oregon, and later resided in College Park, Maryland, Chicago, Boston, Istanbul, and Denver. Bruce wed Isik Aytac in 1985 and enjoyed a remarkably loving, caring, supportive marriage for more than 35 years. “Bruce helped me realize all my dreams in life,” comments Isik. “I am eternally grateful for the time we had together and will love Bruce beyond forever.”
Bruce received his undergraduate degree in Economics with honors from Portland State University, his master’s and PhD degrees in Sociology from the University of Maryland in College Park. He was a research associate and research coordinator at the Center for the Study of Urban Inequality, University of Chicago (1993-1997); a research associate at the Joblessness and Urban Poverty Research Program, Harvard University (1997-2000); and a professor of Sociology at Koc University, Istanbul Turkey (2000-2015). He published books, book chapters and numerous articles in top national and international journals.
Bruce was a natural athlete, an Oregon surfer, an accomplished guitar player and an inspiringly deep individual always capable of articulating complicated ideas and hope. He was an avid reader, mostly nonfiction, but also enjoyed good fiction. History was one of his favorite topics and he loved visiting ancient historical sites.
Bruce was highly intelligent, compassionate, caring, supportive, gentle, uniting, peaceful, loving, serious yet playful, and possessed a great sense of humor. He genuinely cared for the well-being of others. As a human being and sociologist, he was deeply concerned about social and environmental problems. He wanted a better society for all and spent most of his personal and professional life striving towards this goal.
Bruce was an extraordinary son, brother, spouse, dad, grandpa, son-in-law, and friend. He strived for balance between work and family in his life. Although he had a successful academic career, family always came first.
Bruce and Isik took early retirement from their long-time sociology professorships at universities in Istanbul, Turkey and moved to Denver, Colorado in 2015 to be closer to their son, Cuneyt, and his young family. He was a loving and deeply involved dad. During the last seven years as a grandpa, his greatest joy in life was playing with Berk and Ayla. His grandkids expressed their love for grandpa as “love you to infinity x infinity x infinity …..” Throughout his life, Bruce made fine long-lasting friendships. Once he was your friend, he was a friend for life!
Bruce is preceded in death by his parents Alice and Howard Rankin, and brother Richard Rankin. He is survived by his wife Isik Aytac, his son Cuneyt Akay (wife Rachael); his grandchildren Berk and Ayla; his brother John Rankin (wife Pamela); his brother David Rankin (wife Karen); his sister-in-law Betsy Rankin; his niece Shana Hildreth (spouse Ty, and their sons Ean and Evan); and his nephew John Rankin (spouse Sarah, and their children Rowan, Theo and Eliana).
Bruce’s wishes were to be cremated like his parents and brother Dick, and to have his remains scattered in the Pacific Ocean. The world has lost a unique soul. He will be missed. Remembering Bruce will always bring a smile to the faces of those who knew and loved him!
If you would like to make a donation, please donate to: Environmental Defense Fund, www.edf.org
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