Hannarae C Siegelson

Hannarae “Randy” Siegelson was born in Brooklyn, NY on March 21, 1931 to Ethel Livingstain and Henry Cohen. She was the youngest of three siblings. Their father died suddenly after leaving for work one day when Randy was eight. This loss affected her all of her life and drew her close to her older brother Michael and sister Mary, whom she looked to for comfort as her mother grieved deeply.

She was a bright blaze of life and an eternal optimist. Reminding us to “Always look for the patch of blue in the sky.” She relished telling stories of skipping school to go see Frank Sinatra in concert or to a movie premier in the city with her friends. When her sister married and moved to Augusta, her mother followed but Randy vowed to stay in New York. She attended Upsala College in nearby New Jersey. There she met her future husband Alan Siegelson. He gave her his fraternity pin. Sometime later on a dare, and unbeknownst to Alan, she announced their engagement during a party. She may have intended it as a bit of fun but Alan didn’t object. In fact he took the opportunity to ask Randy’s mother for her hand in marriage. After some discussion and negotiation, Ethel agreed and they were married in 1953.

After a short time with the military they made their home in Augusta, GA. There she attained her Masters Degree at Augusta College and became a teacher at Copeland Elementary School until her retirement. She was known as the fun mom, the one with an open door and open heart, not only to her children, Hank, Lisa and Susan, but as a second mother to many of their friends all the way into adulthood. And she was a loving mother-in-law to Glenn, Kim, and Ted. She took great pleasure in her family as it grew to include grandchildren, Jonathan, Aron, Zachary, Jana, Calen, and Jennie and great-grandchildren Gavin, Emma and Donovan, Max and Izzy.

Randy had meaningful lifelong friendships. In every era of her life she gathered people to her- never meeting a stranger, only potential new friends. She had a sense of wanderlust, traveling as often as possible across the country and overseas. If forced to choose one favorite place it would likely be beside an ocean with a good book in hand. Her passionate love of reading never diminished.

She was an active member of Adas Yeshurun Synagogue in Augusta for decades, and a teacher at the Hebrew Day School as well as a member of Sisterhood and Hadassah. Following Alan’s death and some serious health setbacks she moved to Atlanta in 2019.

She died peacefully on November 5 in the presence of family. For those of us who knew her, the life of the party has gone home. In lieu of flowers the family requests a donation in her honor to Adas Yeshurun Synagogue of Augusta or The Humane Society of North Georgia in Augusta.