Edward Rancic

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1999-12-19/news/9912190351_1_kid...

Edward T. Rancic, 66, longtime superintendent of the Palos Heights School District 128 and a faculty member at Loyola University and Lewis University, died Thursday, Dec. 16, from complications related to kidney cancer.

Mr. Rancic, a Chicago native, lived much of his adult life in Orland Park

Mr. Rancic was honored earlier this month when District 128 named its Board of Education building the Dr. Edward T. Rancic Administrative Center. He was district superintendent from 1973 until he retired in 1989.

Mr. Rancic received an undergraduate degree from the University of Denver and a doctorate degree in education from Loyola. He served in the Army from 1960 to 1962, stationed in Maryland. He also was a teacher in Oak Lawn for many years.

During his tenure as superintendent, Mr. Rancic was a part-time assistant professor in the Department of Education at Loyola University. Upon retirement from the district, he became a full-time assistant professor of education at Lewis University, Romeoville.

Mr. Rancic is survived by his wife of 36 years, Gail; three daughters, Elizabeth Shannon, Kathryn Pardue and Karen Soenen; a son, William Rancic; and six grandchildren.

Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday at Robert J. Sheehy & Sons Funeral Home, 9000 W. 151st St., Orland Park. A mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Michael's Catholic Church, 14327 Highland Ave., Orland Park.

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32146172

Education was Edward T. Rancic's profession and passion. He is credited with expanding and improving the quality of Palos Heights School District 128 as its longtime superintendent. More recently, at Lewis University, he helped found a program in Chicago in which city schoolteachers earned state administrative certifications and administrators could qualify for superintendent credentials. And he also co-founded an informal Friday morning breakfast club for current and retired local superintendents that still meets, 26 years after it started, at a Palos Heights restaurant. Mr. Rancic, 66, died of complications from kidney cancer. As superintendent in Palos Heights for 16 years, he guided the district through two reorganizations. He expanded district schools and built a new junior high. "When we look around and notice the fine condition this district is in, it is not hard to trace our good fortune to Ed's leadership," said Ted Struck, current superintendent of the district. District officials thought so highly of Mr. Rancic that they named administrative offices after him earlier this month, said his son, William. He always thought of others and treated people with respect, his son said. "Whether you were the janitor in the building or a fellow superintendent or principal, he treated everyone first class, with respect," William Rancic said. "He valued what you had to offer to help the school district. "It was never about him," his son added. "Last year we all had identical presents under the tree. They were smoke detectors for our houses. Our well-being was his primary concern. He was the resident baby-sitter and handyman for my sisters." Mr. Rancic received his bachelor's degree from the University of Denver and a doctorate in education from Loyola University. He was a teacher in Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 and later principal of Kolmar School in that district. He was assistant superintendent of Alsip School District 126 from 1971 to 1973. After his retirement from District 128, he became an assistant professor at Loyola's Department of Education. In 1995, he became an assistant professor at Lewis University's Department of Education, where he helped start the Advance Studies Program for schoolteachers. In addition to his son, he is survived by his wife of 36 years, Gail; daughters Elizabeth Shannon, Kathryn Pardue and Karen Soenen, and six grandchildren.

Interment at Resurrection Cemetery in Justice.