Clarise Maxine Rankin

Services are scheduled at Winkenhofer Pine Ridge Funeral Home located at 2950 Cobb Pkwy NW Kennesaw, GA 30144. On Saturday, 8/3/2019 we will gather together at 1:00PM with friends and family and then begin the memorial service in the onsite chapel at 2:00PM.

Clarise Maxine was her birth name, however she answered to Maxine or Max. She lived with her daughter; Deborah Smathers, in Kennesaw GA. She loved living there and enjoyed their time together. Her grandchildren called her Nana and she was very proud to be a part of their lives. She was the only girl among six brothers and she loved them all very much. She loved to go camping and was great at water skiing. In fact she taught her father to water ski when he was 50 years old. She also loved to travel and the beach was one of her favorite places to spend time with family and friends. Her favorite color was blue and her favorite flowers were orchids. She collected teapots and displayed them proudly wherever she lived. You are My Sunshine was one of her favorite songs. We have fond memories of her singing this with us as children. She was an amazing artist and loved to paint. Her specialty was flowers. She has left behind many stunning pieces of art that we will cherish and pass down through our family. She enjoyed being with her family, painting, reading, sewing, gardening and cooking. She loved making beautiful things including sewing beautiful clothes and blankets for her grandchildren. She would even sew little bells inside the dresses to make us feel pretty. We have many memories of her teaching us to make Christmas ornaments. She even took a trip to Nebraska one year to make sure we passed on the tradition to her great grandchildren. One of her many talents was making porcelain dolls. She would make them, paint them and hand sew their dresses. She was very proud of those dolls and rightfully so because they are precious. She was always dressed beautifully herself and refused to leave the house without looking her absolute best. She loved to cook for her family and her dishes were always the center of holidays and birthdays throughout the years. She became very close to her faith, especially in last few years. We watched and learned from her as she became a very loyal and faithful woman of God. She enjoyed reading her bible and it brought her a lot of comfort and peace. She died knowing that she was treasured and loved very much.

She is survived by her daughter, Deborah Smathers; her son, Tim Green; her 2 brothers, Jerry Lewis and Jeff Lewis; her 2 grandchildren, Alesia Vann Smathers and Ashley Smathers Richards; her 2 great -grandchildren, Vinson Johns and Madelyn Vann.

She was preceded in death by her parents; George and Marie Price Lewis; her husband, Tom Rankin; her brother; Winford Lewis, her brother; Herbert Lewis, her brother; James Lewis, her brother; Steven Lewis, her son in law; Jim Smathers.