Randy meant so much to so many people. His short time on this earth, he touched so many. He always had a smile and a laugh for everyone. He was always there when you needed someone to talk to. He was a very good friend and I suppose his death brought many of us face to face with the fact that we were not immortal, as we thought. I remember sitting at the funeral home, laughing and crying at the same time, all of us. Laughing at the many precious memories held so close, and crying because we knew there would be no more.
I really miss Randy he was a great friend to so many. He wrote me a poem our senior year and i still have it to this day i will have to post it to share with you.
I first met Randy when I moved to Woodway and started in the 5th grade at Elk Knob. We were in a play together. Then I remember back in 1988 when us juniors were decorating the gym for prom, I heard this singing coming from outside in the hallway. It was an amazing voice. I went out to see who it was and there sat Randy doing something with crate paper I think it was and just singing his heart out. He had an awesome voice. I lived in Kansas at the time of his death. My Mom called and told me about it. I hated it so bad. He was so young and just starting his adult life. I remember thinking how we had all sat in Drivers Ed class one day and them telling us to look around the room, that in so many years so much of a percentage of us would be killed in a car wreck. I don't remember the exact figure, but I thought back then about how Randy was the first of our class to go. It's still sad to think of his passing. I won't ever forget him or his amazing voice and friendly smile.
Randy and I grew up beside each other and let me tell you he and I could get into and stay into quite a bit of trouble. He always dreamed of owning his own funeral parlor, why I'll never know, but he did. Shortly before we graduated he received a letter that he had been accepted to a funeral training school in West Virginia, I think. He told me that no matter what happened in life, he could never bury myself or Bodie Napier. Who would have guessed that in less than a year, we would be saying good-bye to him. Our family was on vacation when my mother called to let me know of his passing. I was so angry and hurt that God had taken someone so full of life and energy. I now know God needed a special angel to watch over me and probably the rest of you too. I still remember his great love for Jorie Ramgrian. He will always forever be in my heart and thoughts.
I guess thinking about Randy dying is just something to this day, I have had a hard time thinking about, it always makes me cry. He was one of the best friends any of us could ever have had. I could tell you all about him, but hopefully, you all had the priviledge of knowing this special friend. He was one of the best people who ever was in my life. I still remember us standing outside Pizza Hut and Long John's the night before he got killed, eating peppermint candy and throwing the wrappers under his car, and him telling us to quit trashing his fancy car like that. I remember his sister, Lena, calling me the morning after and looking for him. I got in my car to go and try to see if I could find him anywhere and passed the wrecker with his car on the back. I can still feel a cold chill thinking about it. For months I remember riding backroads and listening to the Eagles and drinking and thinking about him and being just heartbroken. It's wierd sometimes what memories you have of times years gone by. My heart has always went out to Bodie, because I know they were absolutely the bestest buddies. We all lost a great friend that night, who has never ever been forgotten and not missed by us all.
Randy and I were classmates from k-12, he was a very special guy. He always had a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone.....if you ever saw him any other way than that you knew something must be wrong....I saw Randy at the BP in woodway...back then it was Tiger Market and it was the night before he died....he was on his way to see his girlfriend...I think her name was Selena...he was as happy as I had ever seen him and just being Randy....when I heard of his accident it just about killed me because it never made sense to me why good people have to be the first to go....but then God only picks the best to help him....so now I know why...love ya always Randy!!!!
Randy and I had classes together often sitting next to one another. So there were many laughs as anyone priviledged enough to spend as much time with Randy would have. He laughed with us all. He was all excited telling me about being a funeral home director, which was the absolute most shocking thing anyone had ever said to me. Death when it happens to someone so full of life that was just talking to you personally leaves you like a shell of unanswered questions and without validity of life in the current or present. There are many of us left here without a portion of the good that others projected outward for the good of us all, and we ask how can we still be here and they were taken, when the world would have been a better place with them to shape and mold and enjoy it. It is these passings of wonderful human beings that leaves me void of time and space. However as someome who has been brought back from being dead twice,i can tell you that both places in the afterlife are real and do exist. Neither place has any cares or paramaters of this world. One is horrible and one is awesomely wonderfull, both beyond measure in any earthly form of knowledge or expression. There are no words. Randy is without question happier than he ever was on earth and allthough we are all saddened, he is happy and his smile lives in all of us.
Vanessa Bowen
Randy meant so much to so many people. His short time on this earth, he touched so many. He always had a smile and a laugh for everyone. He was always there when you needed someone to talk to. He was a very good friend and I suppose his death brought many of us face to face with the fact that we were not immortal, as we thought. I remember sitting at the funeral home, laughing and crying at the same time, all of us. Laughing at the many precious memories held so close, and crying because we knew there would be no more.Fonda Webb (Jerrell)
I really miss Randy he was a great friend to so many. He wrote me a poem our senior year and i still have it to this day i will have to post it to share with you.Janis Jenkins (Garrett)
I first met Randy when I moved to Woodway and started in the 5th grade at Elk Knob. We were in a play together. Then I remember back in 1988 when us juniors were decorating the gym for prom, I heard this singing coming from outside in the hallway. It was an amazing voice. I went out to see who it was and there sat Randy doing something with crate paper I think it was and just singing his heart out. He had an awesome voice. I lived in Kansas at the time of his death. My Mom called and told me about it. I hated it so bad. He was so young and just starting his adult life. I remember thinking how we had all sat in Drivers Ed class one day and them telling us to look around the room, that in so many years so much of a percentage of us would be killed in a car wreck. I don't remember the exact figure, but I thought back then about how Randy was the first of our class to go. It's still sad to think of his passing. I won't ever forget him or his amazing voice and friendly smile.Connie Smyth (Burchett)
Randy and I grew up beside each other and let me tell you he and I could get into and stay into quite a bit of trouble. He always dreamed of owning his own funeral parlor, why I'll never know, but he did. Shortly before we graduated he received a letter that he had been accepted to a funeral training school in West Virginia, I think. He told me that no matter what happened in life, he could never bury myself or Bodie Napier. Who would have guessed that in less than a year, we would be saying good-bye to him. Our family was on vacation when my mother called to let me know of his passing. I was so angry and hurt that God had taken someone so full of life and energy. I now know God needed a special angel to watch over me and probably the rest of you too. I still remember his great love for Jorie Ramgrian. He will always forever be in my heart and thoughts.Dottie Tankersley (Blanken)
I guess thinking about Randy dying is just something to this day, I have had a hard time thinking about, it always makes me cry. He was one of the best friends any of us could ever have had. I could tell you all about him, but hopefully, you all had the priviledge of knowing this special friend. He was one of the best people who ever was in my life. I still remember us standing outside Pizza Hut and Long John's the night before he got killed, eating peppermint candy and throwing the wrappers under his car, and him telling us to quit trashing his fancy car like that. I remember his sister, Lena, calling me the morning after and looking for him. I got in my car to go and try to see if I could find him anywhere and passed the wrecker with his car on the back. I can still feel a cold chill thinking about it. For months I remember riding backroads and listening to the Eagles and drinking and thinking about him and being just heartbroken. It's wierd sometimes what memories you have of times years gone by. My heart has always went out to Bodie, because I know they were absolutely the bestest buddies. We all lost a great friend that night, who has never ever been forgotten and not missed by us all.Dina Cox (Dean)
Randy and I were classmates from k-12, he was a very special guy. He always had a smile on his face and a kind word for everyone.....if you ever saw him any other way than that you knew something must be wrong....I saw Randy at the BP in woodway...back then it was Tiger Market and it was the night before he died....he was on his way to see his girlfriend...I think her name was Selena...he was as happy as I had ever seen him and just being Randy....when I heard of his accident it just about killed me because it never made sense to me why good people have to be the first to go....but then God only picks the best to help him....so now I know why...love ya always Randy!!!!Wesley King
Randy and I had classes together often sitting next to one another. So there were many laughs as anyone priviledged enough to spend as much time with Randy would have. He laughed with us all. He was all excited telling me about being a funeral home director, which was the absolute most shocking thing anyone had ever said to me. Death when it happens to someone so full of life that was just talking to you personally leaves you like a shell of unanswered questions and without validity of life in the current or present. There are many of us left here without a portion of the good that others projected outward for the good of us all, and we ask how can we still be here and they were taken, when the world would have been a better place with them to shape and mold and enjoy it. It is these passings of wonderful human beings that leaves me void of time and space. However as someome who has been brought back from being dead twice,i can tell you that both places in the afterlife are real and do exist. Neither place has any cares or paramaters of this world. One is horrible and one is awesomely wonderfull, both beyond measure in any earthly form of knowledge or expression. There are no words. Randy is without question happier than he ever was on earth and allthough we are all saddened, he is happy and his smile lives in all of us.