David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
RAYLENE RANKIN 1960-2012: Bidding ‘a fond farewell’
By STEPHEN COOKE, Chronicle Herald
October 4, 2012
‘‘We rise again, in the voices of our song.’’
The words of Raylene Rankin’s signature tune, penned by Cape Breton songsmith Leon Dubinsky, kept coming to mind during the funeral service for the 52-year-old singer, held Thursday afternoon at a packed St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Halifax.
First, there was the recorded sound of her own voice, which was stilled early Sunday morning after an 11-year battle with cancer.
As family members, friends, fans and music industry colleagues filled the pews of the south-end church, they heard the Gaelic burr of Rankin’s Scottish ancestors roll through Chi mi na morbheanna (in English, Mist Covered Mountains of Home), followed by “the fond farewell" of The Emigrant’s Lament.
Then there was the Gospel read by Rev. Norman MacPhee, from the Book of John, in which Jesus tells Martha, “Your brother will rise again" before resurrecting Lazarus.
Immortality, it seems, comes in many forms.
And while Rankin’s musical legacy is ensured by the catalogue of recordings made with her brothers and sisters and as a solo performer, MacPhee made it clear that her life was about more than just music and would endure in other ways.
“The very core of our lives is made up of our relationships," he said. “The relationships we have with our God, with our family, with our neighbours and our friends. Because Raylene had such strong and deep relationships with people, that’s why her death is so deeply felt. She had these wonderful relationships that lasted all her life."
A former parish priest in the Rankin family’s hometown of Mabou, MacPhee remembered meeting them for the first time in 1973, when there was always music coming out of the home of Buddy and Kay Rankin and their 12 children on Back Street.
He frequently asked Raylene and her late brother, John Morris, to provide music for weddings and funerals at St. Mary’s Church.
“And the Lord knows, God gave them a wonderful talent. We still think of the great songs that Raylene sang."
MacPhee returned the favour by officiating at the wedding of Raylene to her husband, Colin Anderson, at St. Mary’s in 1991, when the couple realized at the rehearsal that they didn’t have a marriage licence and the Dalhousie law school graduate had to put her legal skills to work.
“There was nothing lukewarm about Raylene," recalled MacPhee. “She was passionate about music, she was passionate about her family, her siblings — very passionate about all these things. And she cared so deeply about them all."
Family members filled numerous pews at St. Thomas Aquinas, including her husband and their son, Alexander, musical sisters Heather and Cookie and brother Jimmy, who was also a pallbearer, along with brothers David, Paul and Ronnie.
There were also musicians who shared the road with the Rankin Family, including bassist John Chiasson, drummer Scott Ferguson, guitarist Jamie Robinson and longtime fiddler Howie Mac-Donald, who played before the ceremony with fiddler Wendy MacIsaac and guitarist Dave MacIsaac, and at the close with Mabou fiddler Kinnon Beaton, accompanying him on piano.
Simone Abbass led the congregation in hymns and sang the solo On Eagle’s Wings, accompanied by Patricia Roach. Bible readings were provided by the Rankins’ aunt, Margaret Lauzon, Raylene’s legal colleague, Stanley MacDonald, and singer-songwriter Susan Crowe, who performed in the trio Rankin, Church & Crowe with Raylene and Cindy Church.
Another figure from Rankin’s Mabou childhood, English teacher James St. Clair, read the Sara Teasdale poem Barter, at her request, but also added a few words written by Rankin herself as a student in 1973.
“I could go on forever, counting blessings one by one. And every time I think I’m finished, I haven’t yet begun."
A second funeral service will be held today at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Mabou, followed by a reception in the Mabou Community Hall and interment in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
By STEPHEN COOKE, Chronicle Herald
October 4, 2012
‘‘We rise again, in the voices of our song.’’
The words of Raylene Rankin’s signature tune, penned by Cape Breton songsmith Leon Dubinsky, kept coming to mind during the funeral service for the 52-year-old singer, held Thursday afternoon at a packed St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Halifax.
First, there was the recorded sound of her own voice, which was stilled early Sunday morning after an 11-year battle with cancer.
As family members, friends, fans and music industry colleagues filled the pews of the south-end church, they heard the Gaelic burr of Rankin’s Scottish ancestors roll through Chi mi na morbheanna (in English, Mist Covered Mountains of Home), followed by “the fond farewell" of The Emigrant’s Lament.
Then there was the Gospel read by Rev. Norman MacPhee, from the Book of John, in which Jesus tells Martha, “Your brother will rise again" before resurrecting Lazarus.
Immortality, it seems, comes in many forms.
And while Rankin’s musical legacy is ensured by the catalogue of recordings made with her brothers and sisters and as a solo performer, MacPhee made it clear that her life was about more than just music and would endure in other ways.
“The very core of our lives is made up of our relationships," he said. “The relationships we have with our God, with our family, with our neighbours and our friends. Because Raylene had such strong and deep relationships with people, that’s why her death is so deeply felt. She had these wonderful relationships that lasted all her life."
A former parish priest in the Rankin family’s hometown of Mabou, MacPhee remembered meeting them for the first time in 1973, when there was always music coming out of the home of Buddy and Kay Rankin and their 12 children on Back Street.
He frequently asked Raylene and her late brother, John Morris, to provide music for weddings and funerals at St. Mary’s Church.
“And the Lord knows, God gave them a wonderful talent. We still think of the great songs that Raylene sang."
MacPhee returned the favour by officiating at the wedding of Raylene to her husband, Colin Anderson, at St. Mary’s in 1991, when the couple realized at the rehearsal that they didn’t have a marriage licence and the Dalhousie law school graduate had to put her legal skills to work.
“There was nothing lukewarm about Raylene," recalled MacPhee. “She was passionate about music, she was passionate about her family, her siblings — very passionate about all these things. And she cared so deeply about them all."
Family members filled numerous pews at St. Thomas Aquinas, including her husband and their son, Alexander, musical sisters Heather and Cookie and brother Jimmy, who was also a pallbearer, along with brothers David, Paul and Ronnie.
There were also musicians who shared the road with the Rankin Family, including bassist John Chiasson, drummer Scott Ferguson, guitarist Jamie Robinson and longtime fiddler Howie Mac-Donald, who played before the ceremony with fiddler Wendy MacIsaac and guitarist Dave MacIsaac, and at the close with Mabou fiddler Kinnon Beaton, accompanying him on piano.
Simone Abbass led the congregation in hymns and sang the solo On Eagle’s Wings, accompanied by Patricia Roach. Bible readings were provided by the Rankins’ aunt, Margaret Lauzon, Raylene’s legal colleague, Stanley MacDonald, and singer-songwriter Susan Crowe, who performed in the trio Rankin, Church & Crowe with Raylene and Cindy Church.
Another figure from Rankin’s Mabou childhood, English teacher James St. Clair, read the Sara Teasdale poem Barter, at her request, but also added a few words written by Rankin herself as a student in 1973.
“I could go on forever, counting blessings one by one. And every time I think I’m finished, I haven’t yet begun."
A second funeral service will be held today at 2 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church in Mabou, followed by a reception in the Mabou Community Hall and interment in St. Mary’s Cemetery.
