Edwin Sherwood Rand

Ed Rand passed away on July 8, 2025, in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was born in Long Beach, California, on June 2, 1944, to Gladys Marie (Branscum) and Perry "Bud" Rand. He graduated from Robert A. Millikan High School in Long Beach and shortly thereafter married Janet Steele. They had two children, Danny and Heather. While in southern California he worked as a draftsman for McDonnell-Douglas on the Saturn S4b third stage rocket for the moon mission. He later moved to South Lake Tahoe where he was a volunteer fire fighter for the Lake Valley Fire Department and a summertime firefighter with the US Forest Service. He started a career in the gaming business working as a pit boss in Nevada casinos. He married Cathryn Norton in 1982, and in the mid-1980s they moved to The Bahamas for several years where he continued in the gaming industry. Ed loved fishing and boating, especially in the warm waters of the Bahamas and in beautiful June Lake, California. In the early 1990s he moved to Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where he and Cathy built a hydroponic farm, growing tomatoes and cucumbers. They even had a flock of emus. Ed was a man who could build, fix, or jury-rig just about anything. He was also a skilled woodworker and made fine wooden toys and art pieces.
Eventually, he moved to Las Vegas where he worked in gaming until he retired. In retirement, he worked with Cathy doing dove releases for her company, The Dove Connection. Ed was much appreciated by their customers when he would help them release doves for weddings, celebrations, and bereavements.
Ed was preceded in death by his parents and son, Danny. He is survived by his wife Cathryn Rand, and his daughter Heather Rand.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date, and his ashes will be interred at Happy Homestead Cemetery in South Lake Tahoe. In lieu of flowers, Ed hoped people would support children's medical charities such as St Jude's or Shriners Hospitals.