01/26/2026
Mass of Christian Burial for Lois (Murphy) Rankin, 90, of Knoxville, will be held Monday, February 2, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Knoxville. Family will greet friends prior to the service beginning at 10:00 a.m.
Interment will be at the Graceland Cemetery. A luncheon will be held at the church following the services for a time of continued fellowship. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Anthony Catholic Church.
Louise Ann “Lois” Rankin passed from a full life, surrounded by family and loved ones, on Monday, January 26, 2026, in Knoxville at the Westridge Nursing Facility. Her passing followed supportive Hospice care after a fall.
Lois was born on November 21, 1935, in Melrose, Iowa, to James Francis Murphy and Catherine Theresa “Bingaman” Murphy.
She was the fourth of six children, with her older sister Mary Margaret and brothers James, Gerald Michael, Gene, and Donald.
Her father ran a barber shop in Melrose, and Lois was known to walk away from school if it got boring and head straight to the shop.
As a child, she helped her mother with kitchen chores, housekeeping, and laundry.
During the war years, Lois moved from Melrose to Albia and eventually to Knoxville, where her father worked as a barber at the Knoxville Veterans Hospital.
In high school, she worked at Braida Grocery as a clerk and stocker. She graduated from Knoxville schools with the Class of 1954 and attended church-sponsored dances, where she met Clair Rankin.
Clair drove from Lacona to attend the dances, and the two began dating. Her mother later admitted to quietly screening suitors to favor Clair—“that good Catholic boy”—and occasionally telling other arrivals that Lois was not home.
Lois and Clair were married on September 6, 1954, at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Knoxville.
Lois attended college and earned her LPN nursing license, working in hospitals and nursing facilities in Iowa, Texas, and New Mexico. She later obtained her real estate license and worked as a realtor in New Mexico.
Together, they made their home in Knoxville, Iowa. Lois and Clair raised six sons—Ron, Larry, Rob, Chris, Ed, and Tom. They also enjoyed time with their grandchildren: Ann, Catherine, Debra, Barbra, Elsie, Caroline, Andrew, Alex, Justin, Ryan, and Robin, as well as many great-grandchildren.
Lois is survived by her devoted husband of 71 years, Clair A. Rankin; her brother, Gene Murphy of New Mexico; her sons, Christopher (Sandy), Edward (Michelle), and Thomas (Pam); her daughter-in-law, Jil Rankin of Florida; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her sister Mary M. Eddleman; brothers G. Michael, James F., and Donald J. Murphy; sisters-in-law JoAnn and Sally Murphy; brother-in-law Rex D. Eddleman; and, in sorrow, her sons Ronald M., Lawrence, and Robert Rankin.