Rankin MacDougal Gibson (1916-2001) was a Democratic lawyer from

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

who settled in

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He occupied positions in the administration of Governor

Michael DiSalle Michael Vincent DiSalle (January 6, 1908September 16, 1981) was the 60th governor of Ohio, serving from 1959 to 1963. A Democrat, he was a member of the Toledo City Council and served as the 46th mayor of Toledo from 1948 to 1950. Early lif ...

, and was appointed to the

Ohio Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of Ohio is the highest court in the U.S. state of Ohio, with final authority over interpretations of Ohio law and the Ohio Constitution. The court has seven members, a chief justice and six associate justices, ...

in 1963 and 1964. Rankin Gibson was the son of Alexander and Murle Fletcher Gibson. He was born October 9, 1916, in

Unionville, Missouri Unionville is a city in Putnam County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,735 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat of Putnam County, Missouri, Putnam County. History Unionville was first named Harmony wh ...

. He attended Northeast Missouri State Teachers College 1934 to 1936, and graduated from the

University of Missouri School of Law The University of Missouri School of Law (Mizzou Law or MU Law) is the law school of the University of Missouri. It is located on the university's main campus in Columbia, forty minutes from the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City. The s ...

in 1939. He passed the bar that year and opened a practice in Unionville. In 1940, he began working as an attorney for T.H. Mastin & Co., an insurance company in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. From 1945 to 1951, Gibson worked for the Veteran's Administration in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He earned a bachelor of science in law from St. Paul College of Law in 1948 and a master of law from George Washington Law School in 1950. In 1951 he worked for the

Wage Stabilization Board The Wage Stabilization Board (WSB) was an independent agency of the United States government whose function was to make wage control policy recommendations and to implement such wage controls as were approved."Executive Order 10161, September 9, ...

as an enforcement and litigation attorney. He also joined the faculty of the University of Toledo College of Law in 1951, working there until 1956. He was admitted to the

bar in 1954. In 1956, Gibson joined the

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the western end of Lake Erie along the Maumee River. Toledo is the List of cities in Ohio, fourth-most populous city in Ohio and List of United Sta ...

, firm ''DiSalle, Green, Haddad & Lynch''. He moved to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, in 1959, to serve as assistant to

Ohio Governor The governor of Ohio is the head of government of Ohio and the commander-in-chief of the U.S. state's Ohio National Guard, military forces. The officeholder has a duty to enforce state laws, the power to either approve or veto bill (proposed law ...

. For 1959 to 1961 he served on the Interstate Cooperation Committee and as chairman of the Governor's Committee on Public Information. He also taught at

Franklin University Franklin University is a private university with its main campus in Columbus, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1902 to serve the needs of students beyond traditional undergraduate age. On-site courses are offered at the university's campu ...

School of Law. He was director of the

Ohio Department of Commerce The Ohio Department of Commerce is the administrative department of the Ohio state government Ohio Rev. Code § 121.01 ''et seq.'' responsible for regulating banks and savings institutions, credit unions, mortgage brokers/lenders and consumer fina ...

, a member of the Ohio Water Pollution Board, The Civil War Centennial Commission, and the Ohio Housing Board from 1961 to 1962. In 1963, he was named to head the

Public Utilities Commission of Ohio The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) is the public utilities commission of the U.S. state of Ohio, charged with the regulation of utility service providers such as those of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunications as well as railr ...

. In 1962, Kingsley A. Taft was elected Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, starting Jan 1, 1963. This created a vacancy on the court, to which Governor LaSalle appointed Gibson. He was required to run for the unexpired portion of Taft's term in November 1964, and lost to Republican Paul W. Brown. Beginning in 1965, Gibson returned to private practice with ''Lucas, Predergast, Albright, Gibson and Newman''. In 1972, he was president of the

Ohio State Bar Association The Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) is a Bar_association#Voluntary_bar_associations, voluntary bar association for the state of Ohio. History OSBA was founded on March 6, 1880 when the Cleveland Bar Association issued a call other Ohio local ...

. Rankin Gibson married Eloise M. Corns on September 13, 1941. They had two children. He lived in Galloway, OhioRankin GIBSON Obituary - Cincinnati, Ohio , Legacy.com
Retrieved 2018-05-29. and died on June 4, 2001, at

West Jefferson, Ohio West Jefferson (established 1833) is a village in Madison County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,137 at the 2020 census. Located along U.S. Route 40, the village has a fairly close relationship with the surrounding township, wh ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Rankin Justices of the Supreme Court of Ohio 1916 births 2001 deaths Ohio Democrats People from Unionville, Missouri Truman State University alumni University of Missouri School of Law alumni William Mitchell College of Law alumni George Washington University Law School alumni Politicians from Toledo, Ohio Lawyers from Columbus, Ohio University of Toledo faculty Franklin University faculty 20th-century Ohio state court judges Lawyers from Toledo, Ohio People from Franklin County, Ohio