Randal Williams

Randal (Randy) Carl Williams, beloved husband, father and grandfather, passed away on November 29, 2024. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Susan (Susie) Andrews Williams, their five children and their spouses, Robin Rachel Williams (Janelle Wilson), Ashlee Angell Williams (Ila Nelson), Scott Randal Williams (Jennifer), Gavin Reid Williams (Jodi), and Brooke Kristine Ruckstaetter (Andrew); seven grandchildren who affectionately called him "Grandy": Claire Elisabeth Williams, Lucas Scott Williams, Etta Jane Nelson, Reid Colin Williams, Ophelia Mae Nelson, Romi Charlie Ruckstaetter, and Bodhi Love Ruckstaetter; sister-in-law Betsie Andrews, two nieces Amy Andrews 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, he 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.

He 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, before moving in 1974 to the Ellwood area of Goleta, graduating from UCSB in 1976, and beginning 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. He continued at Morgan Stanley until his retirement in 2017. Randy 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 POW's and MIA's 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 Chairman, 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.

He 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 50 th wedding anniversary, he 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 his life will be held on March 8, 2025, at 2 PM at the Embarcadero Municipal Improvement District Community Center, 224 Vereda Leyenda, Goleta, CA 93117.

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, MO 63131
https://www.principiagiving.org

Santa Barbara Humane Society
5399 Overpass Road
Santa Barbara, CA 93111
https://sbhumane.org

National Parks Foundation
https://give.nationalparks.org

Tunnel to Towers Foundation (T2T.org)
https://t2t.org/donate