Mary Alice Rankin, 73, a longtime fighter for the underdog, was the founder and first director of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
A lifelong resident of Oak Park, she died Wednesday at her summer home in Sawyer, Mich.
In a 1986 article on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her organization, Robert McClory wrote in the Reader: ''If there is one person who embodies effective opposition to the death penalty, it is Mary Alice Rankin and she does it as much by what she is as by what she says. She stirs up something in people's souls that they would rather ignore when confronted by crime and criminals.''
Mrs. Rankin's voice was soft and her style like that of the grandmother she was. She was also, in the words of a New York advocate against capital punishment, an antidote to the belief that ''a large, muscled macho toughness is the answer to every problem in society.''
Mrs. Rankin graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School and taught there for a year after graduating from the University of Michigan. The mother of five, she grew into her convictions slowly, working first in Oak Park for the election of independent Democrats.
She organized the coalition against capital punishment in 1976 to stop the state legislature in Illinois from passing legislation to reinstitute the death penalty. When the group's efforts were unsuccessful, it became a continuing organization and Mrs. Rankin became its director. Ill health forced her to leave the post, but she continued as associate director. When further health problems stopped her from going into the office, she worked at home.
Mrs. Rankin also founded the Crisis Hotline in Oak Park and served as one of its volunteers for many years.
Survivors include three sons, Mackenzie, Stephen and Edward; two daughters, Alice Batchelder and Ruth; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park
A lifelong resident of Oak Park, she died Wednesday at her summer home in Sawyer, Mich.
In a 1986 article on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her organization, Robert McClory wrote in the Reader: ''If there is one person who embodies effective opposition to the death penalty, it is Mary Alice Rankin and she does it as much by what she is as by what she says. She stirs up something in people's souls that they would rather ignore when confronted by crime and criminals.''
Mrs. Rankin's voice was soft and her style like that of the grandmother she was. She was also, in the words of a New York advocate against capital punishment, an antidote to the belief that ''a large, muscled macho toughness is the answer to every problem in society.''
Mrs. Rankin graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School and taught there for a year after graduating from the University of Michigan. The mother of five, she grew into her convictions slowly, working first in Oak Park for the election of independent Democrats.
She organized the coalition against capital punishment in 1976 to stop the state legislature in Illinois from passing legislation to reinstitute the death penalty. When the group's efforts were unsuccessful, it became a continuing organization and Mrs. Rankin became its director. Ill health forced her to leave the post, but she continued as associate director. When further health problems stopped her from going into the office, she worked at home.
Mrs. Rankin also founded the Crisis Hotline in Oak Park and served as one of its volunteers for many years.
Survivors include three sons, Mackenzie, Stephen and Edward; two daughters, Alice Batchelder and Ruth; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park
Mary Alice Rankin, 73, a longtime fighter for the underdog, was the founder and first director of the Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty.
A lifelong resident of Oak Park, she died Wednesday at her summer home in Sawyer, Mich.
In a 1986 article on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her organization, Robert McClory wrote in the Reader: ''If there is one person who embodies effective opposition to the death penalty, it is Mary Alice Rankin and she does it as much by what she is as by what she says. She stirs up something in people's souls that they would rather ignore when confronted by crime and criminals.''
Mrs. Rankin's voice was soft and her style like that of the grandmother she was. She was also, in the words of a New York advocate against capital punishment, an antidote to the belief that ''a large, muscled macho toughness is the answer to every problem in society.''
Mrs. Rankin graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School and taught there for a year after graduating from the University of Michigan. The mother of five, she grew into her convictions slowly, working first in Oak Park for the election of independent Democrats.
She organized the coalition against capital punishment in 1976 to stop the state legislature in Illinois from passing legislation to reinstitute the death penalty. When the group's efforts were unsuccessful, it became a continuing organization and Mrs. Rankin became its director. Ill health forced her to leave the post, but she continued as associate director. When further health problems stopped her from going into the office, she worked at home.
Mrs. Rankin also founded the Crisis Hotline in Oak Park and served as one of its volunteers for many years.
Survivors include three sons, Mackenzie, Stephen and Edward; two daughters, Alice Batchelder and Ruth; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park
A lifelong resident of Oak Park, she died Wednesday at her summer home in Sawyer, Mich.
In a 1986 article on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of her organization, Robert McClory wrote in the Reader: ''If there is one person who embodies effective opposition to the death penalty, it is Mary Alice Rankin and she does it as much by what she is as by what she says. She stirs up something in people's souls that they would rather ignore when confronted by crime and criminals.''
Mrs. Rankin's voice was soft and her style like that of the grandmother she was. She was also, in the words of a New York advocate against capital punishment, an antidote to the belief that ''a large, muscled macho toughness is the answer to every problem in society.''
Mrs. Rankin graduated from Oak Park-River Forest High School and taught there for a year after graduating from the University of Michigan. The mother of five, she grew into her convictions slowly, working first in Oak Park for the election of independent Democrats.
She organized the coalition against capital punishment in 1976 to stop the state legislature in Illinois from passing legislation to reinstitute the death penalty. When the group's efforts were unsuccessful, it became a continuing organization and Mrs. Rankin became its director. Ill health forced her to leave the post, but she continued as associate director. When further health problems stopped her from going into the office, she worked at home.
Mrs. Rankin also founded the Crisis Hotline in Oak Park and served as one of its volunteers for many years.
Survivors include three sons, Mackenzie, Stephen and Edward; two daughters, Alice Batchelder and Ruth; and nine grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 4 at the Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park
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