Mike and Susie Rankin

Michael “Mike” Rankin, age 72, passed away peacefully at home on December 6, 2025. Soon after due to an aggressive respiratory illness his loving wife Mary “Susie” Rankin, age 70, joined him on December 11, 2025.

Mike and Susie were united in marriage November of 1983.

Mike and Susie are survived by their daughters Tricia (Chris) and Jamie (Noa); grandchildren Sam, Molly, Camree, Leila, Ajay, Easton. Mike’s siblings Chuck, Kathy, Marilyn. Susie’s siblings Cindy, Patti, Danny.

This week, our beloved parents — lifelong partners in love, mischief, and mutual eye-rolling — decided to make one final dramatic exit… together. Five days apart…because of course they did. After decades of rarely being more than a room away from each other, they apparently took one look at the idea of flying solo and said “Absolutely not.”

They were the kind of couple who could bicker for an hour about where to get takeout, then team up like the 1994 Huskers when it came to anything that actually mattered. They loved each other fiercely, annoyed each other endlessly, and managed to raise children who inherited both traits in equal measure. You’re welcome, world.

Our parents were known for many things: their unmatched storytelling, their wicked senses of humor, and their completely unprompted public displays of affection that made us all deeply uncomfortable. They were also known for showing up — for each other, for family, and for anyone who needed love, food, advice, or a firm lesson in common sense.

Their departure leaves us just as sad as the fans at the end of the 2025 Husker football season, though they’d absolutely tell us to stop being dramatic. We love them more than we can ever say and miss them more than they would ever admit they deserve. But if there’s any comfort in this heartbreak, it’s knowing that somewhere out there, the two of them are squabbling, laughing, and holding hands — probably in that order.

Granny and Papa, we take comfort knowing you’re together forever. We love you. We miss you. And we’ll be laughing at — and with — you forever.

Memorials may be directed to St. Gerald’s Catholic Church

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.