Randolph Lee Finley

Randolph Lee Finley was born March 25, 1954 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Randy spent his formative years in Atlanta, Georgia where he attended The Lovett School. During his junior year of high-school he helped lead his football team to win the State Championship in 1970. He then attended Furman University from 1972 – 1978 receiving both his Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Science with a focus in Chemistry. Randy’s career began in Spartanburg, South Carolina as a project manager for Milliken, a textile company. In 1984 he married his wife of 34 years, Nancy Ellie and then moved to Florence, South Carolina where they started their family. His ingenuity in both textile chemistry and system development eventually brought them and their three children north to Montclair, NJ where they lived for seventeen years. During this time he worked as a Quality Assurance Manager, Director of Raw Materials and VP of Fabric Development for Polo Ralph Lauren, The Limited and David’s Bridal. He developed many innovative technologies for these companies, many of which were patented over the years. He travelled all over the world, spending the majority of his time in India and Asia, where he streamlined several manufacturing processes from the ground up. Randy was incredibly involved in his local parish, St. James Episcopal Church, where he served on the vestry. In his free time he coached his sons’ baseball teams, renovated his 80-year-old house, played bridge and competitive tennis, and took ballroom dancing lessons with his wife. The two eventually moved to Fort Myers, Florida where they continued to involve themselves in tennis, church and ballroom dancing communities, making many close friends. He passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on September 23, 2018 after battling prostate cancer for 13 years. Randy is preceded in death by his father, Robert Finley and his step-father Donald Fridlund. He is survived by his wife Nancy Finley (née Ellie), sons Lee Finley, Andrew Finley, daughter Christina Kelly (née Finley), mother Lois Fridlund (née Sellman), brother Robert Finley and sister Bonita Clegg (née Finley). For those looking to make donations, Randy expressed his wish that they be sent to any of the following organizations:

St. Hilary’s Episcopal Church

5011 McGregor Blvd.

Fort Myers, FL 33901

St. James Episcopal Church

581 Valley Road

Montclair, NJ 07043

Hope Hospice

Attn: Development Department

9470 Healthpark Circle

Fort Myers, FL 33908

For online donations, visit donate.hopehcs.org

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words.