Much-loved former Mintlaw art teacher Bruce Rankin – who loved nothing more than bumping into former pupils – has died aged 77. The Gray’s School of Art graduate, who was raised in his family-run Strichen bakery, was also a popular drummer in Aberdeenshire’s live music and ceilidh scene. Strichen bound for baker’s son Bruce The first of two sons for Kiwi Lance Rankin and his Keith-born wife Margaret, Bruce Campbell Rankin was born on July 7 1946, in Christchurch New Zealand, with no right earlobe or drum.
Early investigative ear surgery would follow but ultimately Bruce would never be able to hear on his right side, though this never impeded his substantial musical abilities. Bruce and brother Alan relocated to Scotland with their parents in 1953. Strichen, a short drive away from maternal grandparents in Aberdeen, became their new home and a family-run bakery on the High Street their livelihood.
Often serving as a delivery boy at the baker’s, soon after moving to Scotland Bruce suffered serious ill health. A bout of appendicitis followed by peritonitis led to life-saving surgery but the long hospital stay impacted his early life and schooling. Artistic future for the Fraserburgh cricketer Bruce attended primary school in Strichen where he first started to take an interest in art, helping paint a mural in the school hall.
From there he advanced to Fraserburgh Academy and sports began to pique his interest. Later playing cricket for Fraserburgh, despite sporting pr.