Clara Taplin Rankin

Clara Taplin Rankin passed away at age 107 on February 26, 2025. 

Her husband, Alfred M. Rankin, predeceased her in 1994. She was the daughter of longtime Clevelanders Edith Smith Taplin and Frank E. Taplin.

 She is survived by her five sons: Alfred M. Rankin, Jr., (Viki), Thomas T. Rankin (Corbin), Claiborne R. Rankin (Beth), Roger F. Rankin (Alison), and Bruce T. Rankin. She is also survived by 10 of her 11 grandchildren: Helen Rankin Butler (JC), Clara Rankin Williams (David), Matthew Rankin (Elizabeth), James Rankin (Lynne),T. Parker Rankin (Conway), Chloe Rankin Seelbach (Scott), Claiborne Rankin, Jr. (Lauran), Julia Rankin Kuipers (Jacob),Anne Farnham Rankin, and Elisabeth Marshall Rankin. John B. Rankin predeceased her. She is also survived by 15 great-grandchildren.

 Her early life was specially marked by a wonderful education at Hathaway Brown School and then Smith College, where she was Head of Student Government in 1937-1938 and a founding member of the singing group called the Smiffinpoofs. Smith was then followed by studies at the Juilliard School of Music where she pursued her lifelong love of singing. 

 She married Alfred M. Rankin in 1940 and then, immediately, together, they participated in the World War II effort and began their family in 1941. She took great joy in raising her five sons and supporting them and their wives and families at every turn. She participated fully throughout the course of her life in the life of her home city, Cleveland.

 She cared deeply about the arts and had a particular commitment to real excellence in the arts, serving for many years as a trustee of The Cleveland Museum of Art and the Musical Arts Association, both until her death. She also served as a trustee of the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Cleveland International Piano Competition and was deeply supportive of Apollo’s Fire and its commitment to baroque music. For many of its early years Apollo’s Fire performed in the summer in a barn at her home in Hunting Valley. As part of her commitment to the arts, she was the Cleveland Bicentennial Commission member for the Arts and Culture Committee from 1992 to 1996.

 She also cared deeply about, and gave her time and interest to, numbers of other civic activities. Among those other activities, she served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Hathaway Brown School for many years and as Chair of the Board of Counselors of Smith College in the 1970’s. Believing in the power of nature to heal, in 1993 she also helped provide much needed healthcare service for those with mental difficulties by founding Hopewell, a Therapeutic Farm Community, which provides residential comprehensive mental healthcare and treatment in Middlefield, Ohio.

 She had great interest in gardens and natural history and took special pride in ensuring the perpetuation of her Ellen Biddle Shipman designed garden at her home in Hunting Valley. She was a long-time member of the Shaker Lakes Garden Club as well as the Chagrin River Land Conservancy. Her interest in natural history led her on travels with family to the Galapagos Islands, about which she wrote a book, and to East Africa, after which she edited a thoughtful movie about the animals and their environment.

 In the midst of all these activities, she always set aside time to pursue her own personal intellectual interests. She wrote a good deal beginning in Cleveland in 1942 with papers for the Topics group formed by a group of women who wanted to balance intellectual engagement involving serious topics with bringing up families. She followed this later with “Tea and Curiosity: A Chinese Experience”, a travel book about her visit to China in 1973, just months after President Nixon’s rapprochement with China. This was followed by a memoir “In the Meantime,”and also by other books and collections of poetry she wrote over the years and which she carefully bound for all members of her family in wonderful covers.

 Clara Taplin Rankin's life was very full. She gave much to her family and to her community. For those who would like to leave a remembrance in her name, in lieu of flowers, her family would be honored to have support for Hopewell or one of the other organizations she loved.

 A church service will be held at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Blvd., Cleveland Hts., OH 44118, on Saturday March 1 at 2:00 PM. For directions and the opportunity to sign the guestbook, please log online to www. brown-forward.com. To access the live stream, please log in to Youtube: https://youtube.com/@fpccle , or the church website: https://fpccle.org/online-worship/ Brown-Forward service 216 752-1200. A musical gathering to Celebrate Life will be held at a later time at Severance Music Center.