By John Wilkinson
State premiers were among those attending the funeral of former Financial Planning Association (FPA) chief executive Jock Rankin last week.
The FPA was represented by Ken Bruce and the Institute of Actuaries by its president Helen Martin.
The service, at St Carthage’s Catholic Church in Melbourne, was attended by hundreds from the worlds of politics and journalism, together with many friends.
Jock’s brother, Dr Tim Rankin, said at the service that Jock fought his illness to the very end.
“He never gave up, he never stopped smiling,” he says.
Dr Rankin said Jock never looked back as he was always moving onto the next challenge.
Jock, 52, died on January 16 after a long battle with cancer.
He was chief executive of the FPA from 1994 to 1996 and was regarded as one of the key instigators of the association’s rise to prominence.
At the time of Jock’s resignation from the FPA, former president Bernie Walshe said “Jock’s contribution (to the FPA) was nothing short of phenomenal”.
Senator Jim Short, who was responsible for the financial services industry in the first Howard government, speaking at the time of Jock’s resignation, said “he has done much for the FPA”.
He was diagnosed with cancer last year and initially responded to treatment, returning to his position as executive director of the Victorian division of the Property Council.
Despite leaving the FPA, he was closely involved in devising ways the council could work with the FPA and last year proposed the two bodies should talk about areas of common interest.
After leaving the FPA, Jock became chief executive of the Institute of Actuaries until 1999, when he left to join the Property Council.
Prior to moving into senior management, Jock had along career in broadcasting working for the ABC, HSV7 and CTV9.
He worked on programs such asFour Corners, AM and PM, SBS Current Affairsand theSundayprogram.
In 1988 he was appointed director of news and current affairs at ABC TV in Victoria, a position he held until 1993.
Jock is survived by his wife, Mary Delahunty (Victoria’s Education Minister) and his two teenage children, Nicholas and Olivia.
