Funeral services will be Saturday, January 23, 2021 at 11:00 a.m., Gregory Cemetery, Highway 541, Magee, MS 39111.

“Let the works that I have done speak for me, let the chains I have broken in my life and the lives of my people clink no more only to be seen no longer heard and be as vines of legacy showcased in those around me”. Myrtha Thames Rankin lived a beautiful and fruitful life from her sunrise of October 2, 1922 to her sunset of January 18, 2021. She was born to the late Ellis Levi Thames and Beatrice Williamson Thames on October 2, 1922 in the Skiffer community of Magee, MS. Her walk in Christ began early at a church her father helped to found as an investor and treasurer, Goodwater CME church. Her virtue of service was established then by helping her father with the church’s books and mission work in the community with her mother. She loved to learn and attended Magee Consolidated School where she graduated sixth grade. This sparked a lifelong commitment to knowledge for herself and others, so she helped children in her community learn to read all while helping to raise her sibling’s children. Those acts of service established her as a pillar in the community. Myrtha then met her late husband, Booker Talaioferro Washington Rankin and they were married December 30, 1945. They loved and worked hard beside each other and to their beautiful union was born Booker T, Jr., Mertha, Shirley, William Curtis and Deborah. Service, hard work and love were deeply deposited within them by their parents. As a testament to this, hosts of children would flock to their yard every day after school, knowing they would be safe during those tumultuous times of Jim Crow in the Deep South. She remained dedicated to her family while being appointed cafeteria director for 30+ years at Hillcrest Nursing Home where she started a remaining tradition of a mass birthday party for patients. She continued to facilitate the birthday party and bake cakes for the event until her health would not allow it. Also, her acts of service on the missionary board at her beloved Goodwater further established her as a matriarch in her community. Spending her time reading, caring for her family, cooking for the sick and shut in, worshipping God and being surrounded by loved ones truly made her heart full. She was determined to leave a sound legacy and it came to pass. Additional She is preceded in death by her parents Ellis Thames and Beatrice Thames, siblings: Margie, Myrtle, Myrtis, Minnie, Ogis, William Douglas, Arthur, A.J., O.J. M.C., Landis and Marjay; her late husband Booker T. Rankin, Sr.; Her grandson Patrick Lett and her son William Curtis Rankin. To cherish her memory she leaves her son Booker T. Rankin, Jr. (Mary), Mertha Sanders (Doril), Shirley (Glenn), Deborah Rankin and Gwendolyn Rankin; Grandchildren Tia Buckham-White (Michael), Duane Rankin, LaTonya Rankin, Monica Lowe (Lazelle), Nicole Rankin-Curry (Paul), Nicole Lett, Kenitra Rankin, Cortez Rankin (Miracle), Desmond Rankin, Keondra Rankin, Jerrod Rankin, Marquez Sanders and Jacquez; 17 great Grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.