Randy Kevin Mitchell

Randall Kevin Mitchell passed away in his favorite place, his decked out garage, with his daughter holding him in her lap at his home in Millcreek, UT in the late night hours of April 27, 2026. When Randy raced motorcycles, karts, and cars, he gave it his all in every corner of every last lap. And that is how he fought his 11-week battle with pancreatic cancer. He was intentional about living an exceptionally healthy lifestyle for 71 years, and only allowed himself to leave when he decided that “the thrill was gone.” Randy was always authentic. He never pretended to be anything he wasn’t.

Randy was born in Cedar City, Utah July 18, 1954, the youngest and wildest of the four Mitchell brothers, to San Luis Mitchell and Pearlie Myrleen Johnson Mitchell in Cedar City, Utah. Growing up, Randy’s best friends and tribe were his brothers. When they were little, the four boys (all born within 3.5 years) would take their thermoses out to the field to play army and remember going swimming with their mom.

They didn’t have a lot, but their dad taught them to create, build and fix everything that had wheels and engines, because those four boys wanted to be fast and dangerous. The family moved to Lander, Wyoming in 1962 when San accepted the position of Chief Chemist for US Steel. Randy’s teen years were full of good times with brothers and friends, fishing in the Popo Agie river, skiing in Sinks Canyon, riding and fixing motorcycles and cars, working at the A&W Drive-in to earn a few pennies, and giving their mother great anxiety.

Randy graduated from Lander Valley High school, class of 1972 and then attended BYU and the University of Utah for electrical engineering. But his real focus was honing in on his skiing skills and continuing to fall in love with alpine life and sports. He met his wife Debra Forsberg, during his college years through a mutual friend. They married in Lake Bluff, Illinois January 6, 1978 and had two beautiful children together in Lander, Wyoming. Their young life in Lander was full of simple joys and adventures. Outside of his family, Randy’s pride and joy was owning and running The Dairyland Drive In with his brother Lyle, making cheesewheels and hosting the town for all of their burger and shake runs. Randy, Louis, and Lyle loved running several businesses together on main street including their shop, Mitch’s Britches, and of course, a car lot and gas station.

In 1989, Salt Lake City became home to Randy where he traded in the motorcycles for race karts which became foundational for Randy, Dustin and Abbey. It was important for Randy to teach Dustin and Abbey that being a podium racer was more than mastering the track. He made sure they knew how to rebuild engines, work on their karts, and keep them clean.

Randy fell in love with the blues scene and people at The Dead Goat Saloon on Monday nights. Music was essential in Randy’s home. Between listening to great albums, Dustin playing violin like a concert artist, Abbey and Randy playing piano and guitar, their home was filled with music that they either created or enjoyed and became the sound-track to their lives. Losing his precious teenage son, Dustin, to a car accident in 1994, made a line of demarcation in his life, after which he lived in an even more intense and intentional way than ever before.

Professionally, Randy found great joy and satisfaction in creating authentic relationships with customers and developing products that were truly the best in the market. Whether he was working for his step-father, Hal, at Coleman Electrical, pouring over patents and every detail to build Perfect 360, or ensuring his customers had the best cellulose insulation from Green Fiber and Redi-therm, he thoroughly enjoyed the satisfaction of hard work and developing excellence in all he did.

Randy didn’t wait for retirement to spend his time doing what he loved, but retirement gave him the freedom to design each day with perfect intention. He designed and built the most iconic shop for his cars where every detail was deliberate with purpose and meaning. He enjoyed these projects with his brothers because what one didn’t know how to do, another did. Randy and Louis spent much trial and error tearing down the brick wall and installing insulation in the ceiling in the middle of a scorching July. Rebuilding his antique and classic cars kept him and Lyle in plenty of busted knuckles and bruises. The art of a car was a core part of who Randy was and there is no one he loved watching late night F1 races with or talking about Ferraris with than his brother, Kurtis.

Randy was deeply passionate about skiing and mastering the art of fast and smooth turns. He was first on the mountain every day (except Saturdays), and loved challenging his body and mind to continue to advance his skiing. He unlocked a new level of trusting his edges and said that this year he had skied the best he ever had in his life. Not only did he love skiing Solitude, he loved skiing with people who made him better, learning about people on the chairlift, and teaching others to be better skiers.

Randy spent as much time in the mountains as possible hiking, mountain biking, hunting, fishing, boating, driving the canyons, or flying over the peaks in his airplane; he experienced them from every angle. Becoming a pilot and flying was a childhood dream. Not only did he accomplish that, but he had a cessna of his own to fly the skies whenever he wanted and land on dry lake beds for overnight camping.

Randy loved spending quality time continuing to teach Abbey, Chris, Harrison and Morgan the important things in life. Each year, he brought each boy out for a solo trip to ski, hot rod, hike, and work on cars. He also made many trips to Texas to help them work on their garage projects and go to their baseball and football games.

He loved his nieces, nephew, and their kids to pieces, and had an eternal line of friends and neighbors who continually stopped in or went out with him on countless adventures.

Randy’s last three years were spent doting on and adventuring with his beloved Jesse dog. She brought him a new joy in life that renewed his spirit and gave him a unique purpose to see the world through her eyes.

Randy was preceded in death by his parents, San and Pearlie, his son, Dustin and he is survived by his daughter, Abbey (Chris), grandsons Harrison and Morgan, his brothers, Louis (Cece), Lyle (Debbie), and Kurtis (Joann), his nieces/nephew; Jennifer, Lauren, Lisa, Michelle, Melissa, Emily, Jessica, Amanda, Derek, and their children; Tristen, Kennady, Mitchell, Kimber, Camryn, Cooper, Grey, Harriet, Sean, Kate, Blair, Skylar, Sloan, Lyla, Ananda, Alizae, Savannah, and Milan.

Come as you are to his funeral services at Wasatch Lawn on Saturday, May 2, 2026. Randy loved being authentically himself and loved each of you in your authentic self. Visitation from 12:45-1:45 pm. Funeral at 2 pm. Live stream available at https://client.tribucast.com/tcid/c26043600567599.

Interment: Wasatch Lawn Memorial Park, Olympus Garden

In the words of Paul McCartney, “Eleanor Rigby…wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, who is it for?”