Robert Rankin Dunlap

Robert Rankin Dunlap (July 25, 1915 – February 15, 1992) was an American lawyer and politician.

Dunlap was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota on July 25, 1915.^[1] He graduated from Saint Paul Central High School. His father, Roy Dunlap Sr., was the managing editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch newspaper for 35 years; his brother, Roy Jr., also became the newspaper's managing editor.^[2]

Dunlap received his law degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1941. Dunlap served in the United States Army during World War II, reaching the rank of captain.^[1] After the war, he lived in the small town of Plainview in Wabasha County, Minnesota with his wife, Jane,^[2] where he practiced law. He also served as the Wabasha County Attorney from 1950 to 1952.^[1]

Dunlap was elected to five terms as a Republican in the Minnesota Senate from 1953 to 1967.^[1]

In 1964, Dunlap moved to Rochester, Minnesota with his wife and family and continued to practice law. In 1973, he formed a law firm, Dunlap, Keith, Finseth, Berndt and Sandberg, with future Minnesota Supreme Court chief justice Sandy Keith.^[3]

Dunlap died from a heart attack in Rochester, Minnesota at age 76.^[3][4][5]

Dunlap and his wife had five children. Dunlap's son Bob "Slim" Dunlap was a guitarist best known for being a member of alternative-rock group The Replacements.^[2]