Randal “Randy” Carl Williams, beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away on Nov. 29, 2024.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Susan “Susie” Andrews Williams’ their five children and their spouses Robin Williams (Janelle Wilson), Ashlee Williams (Ila Nelson), Scott Williams (Jennifer), Gavin Williams (Jodi), and Brooke Ruckstaetter (Andrew); seven grandchildren Claire, Lucas, Etta, Reid, Ophelia, Romi, and Bodhi, who affectionately called him “Grandy;” sister-in-law Betsie Andrews; two nieces Amy Burky and Kathryn Andrews; numerous cousins, and amazing friends.
For an only child he was blessed with a wonderfully large extended family.
Born on April 9, 1947 to Elsa Louise Rodegast Williams and George Randall Williams of St. Louis, Missouri, Randy spent his early years in Jennings, a suburb of St. Louis.
In eighth grade he transferred from public school to Principia Middle School as a day student, and graduated from Principia Upper School in 1966. It was there he met his future wife Susie; where he established life long friendships; and where their children eventually would attend.
Randy began college at Central Missouri State, transferring to University of Louisville, Kentucky, before joining the United States Coast Guard in 1969, which included a tour in Vietnam.
Upon returning from Vietnam, he married Susie Andrews, living one year each in the San Francisco Bay Area and Aptos, California, before moving in 1974 to the Ellwood area of Goleta.
He graduated from UCSB in 1976, and began his career as a wealth manager for Dean Witter. He changed firms a year later to E.F. Hutton, which eventually evolved to Morgan Stanley.
Randy continued at Morgan Stanley until his retirement in 2017. He was most grateful for his colleagues there, who took him under their wings and helped nurture his career.
For recreation, Randy started out bicycling (how could he not, when his father-in-law gifted him a tandem bicycle as a wedding present?), but after trading that in for two single bikes and, thanks to Susie’s brother George Andrews, he gave up bicycling for motorcycling, which when translated meant Harleys!
Thus began a love of riding the open road; crisscrossing the United States several times; touring our national parks; participating in Washington, D.C.’s “Rolling Thunder” to remember POWs and MIAs from the Vietnam War; making several pilgrimages to Sturgis; riding the length of Baja California with Principia classmates; joining the Toys for Tots ride at Christmas; even riding to work and church.
Randy was an active member of First Church of Christ, Scientist, Goleta, for almost 50 years, serving at various times as reader, board chair, and chair of various committees.
He was so grateful for his church family. Before the church hired a gardener, Randy could be found on any given Saturday cleaning up the church grounds with his trusty weed whacker and blower. He loved making things look orderly and beautiful.
Randy moved his family to Rancho Embarcadero, Goleta, in 1980, where he lived the remainder of his life. There he also loved making things look orderly and beautiful, and for a number of years cut down weeds along Calle Real, the entrance road to the canyon neighborhood, when the county seemed to neglect it, or at least took too long.
Neighbors would stop by and thank him with a cool bottle of water, and even made a sign thanking him for his efforts that hung in his garage for years.
Randy was known for his sense of humor and for being an “unpaid travel agent” for family and friends. He loved helping people with travel plans and was always finding “deals too good to pass up.”
World travel was a highlight in his final decade, with trips to Vietnam, Cambodia, Israel, Egypt, Kenya, Scotland, France, Switzerland, Italy and Greece.
In 2022, the year of their 50th wedding anniversary, Randy took Susie around the world, with such exotic stops as Al Maja Desert Resort in Dubai, and Sirru Fen Fushi in the Maldives.
He and Susie had spent their honeymoon in Hawaii, and it was probably his favorite place on earth; he took her back more than 40 times over the years to celebrate their anniversary.
During his final week here on earth, he kept asking for the Hawaiian “exit song,” which turned out to be “Aloha ‘Oe” – “Until We Meet Again.”
We miss you, Randy, and know that we will meet again one day.
A celebration of Randy’s life will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at the Embarcadero Municipal Improvement District (EMID) Community Center, 224 Vereda Leyenda, Goleta.
Contributions in Randy’s memory may be made to:
First Church of Christ, Scientist, Goleta , 480 N. Fairview Ave. , Goleta, CA 93117.
The Principia, 13201 Clayton Road, St. Louis, Missouri 63131 https://www.principiagiving.org.