Randall Keith Winch

1962 - 2016

WINCH, Randall Keith, age 54 (Nov. 20, 1962 – Dec. 8, 2016) died on Thursday, Dec. 8, 201, at his residence in Winchester. Randy was born on Nov. 20, 1962, in Ord, Calif. to Roger and Carolyn Winch. He is survived by his father, Roger Winch of Winchester; one sister, Nicole Collins of Tullahoma; one brother, Kevin Winch of Winchester; and his nieces, Vanessa Morris of Franklin County and Nicole "Nikki", Victoria and Rachael of Tullahoma. His mother, Carolyn Proffitt-Winch preceded him in death. Randy was a long time resident of Tullahoma and Winchester. He graduated from Tullahoma High School in 1981, where as a student he excelled on both the math and tennis teams. Randy loved playing tennis in his younger years and taught himself how to code. He started Rootsweb in 1996, and was fondly referred to as the "Chief Hacker and Creator of Wonderful Things" by Brian Wolf Leverich. In 2000, Rootswed was purchased by Ancestry and Randy stayed on until his death as the senior software developer for Ancestry.com. He was instrumental in building, improving and maintaining Rootsweb and his love for his mother Carolyn led him to also develop WorldConnect. Randy will be fondly remembered both by his family and everyone who had the honor of calling him friend and will be missed beyond measure. In lieu of flowers, please send all donations in his name directly to Tullahoma High School, 927 North Jackson St., Tullahoma, TN 37388, Attn: Ladonna Webb, to either the THS Tennis and/or THS Computer Technology (CTE). Visitation was held on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016, at Kilgore Funeral Home in Tullahoma from 4 to 7 p.m. Kilgore Funeral Home in charge of arrangements, 215 Mitchell Blvd., Tullahoma, TN 37388 (931) 455-0677 kilgorefh@lighttube.net