Lydia Randolph

Lydia Randolph (nee Kowaltschuk), passed away on Jun 11, 2025. She is survived by her loving daughters Denise (Tom) and Diane (Noah), her granddaughter Natalia, her sister Dorothea, her nephew Chris (Pritee, Nathanial and Parker) and her nephews Gregory and Nicholas. She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Charles Randolph, her sister Brigitte and her mother Lily.

She was born on May 20, 1939 in the Ukraine. When only a few years old she immigrated with her family through Russia and into Germany in 1942. The family claimed Lindau am Bodensee as their home where Lydia pursued a ballet career and was accepted into the Vienna Opera Ballet Company in the spring of 1958. Shortly after this acceptance, Lydia’s family was sponsored to immigrate to New York City where she landed with her mother and sisters on Halloween night, 1958. In the 15 years that Lydia lived on the east coast, she commuted to New York City to work as a model with her work found in both newspapers and magazines. In addition to modeling, Lydia continued to take ballet classes with the NYC ballet company. In 1965, Lydia married Charles Randolph and they lived on the east coast for several years.

In 1972, she moved with her immediate family to Cary, Illinois where she resided until her death. Lydia founded the Woodstock Ballet Studio and ran it successfully for nearly 20 years. Countless numbers of students speak to Lydia’s creativity and vision. Over the years, the Woodstock Ballet Studio gave yearly performances at the Woodstock Opera House and at the Elgin Performing Arts Center, featuring many costumes she made and beaded by hand with exquisite attention to detail. As a professionally trained seamstress, Lydia was an avid sewer, costume maker and beadwork designer, making many outfits for herself and her daughters during the 70's. Her creativity was a delight and brought great joy to her family, ballet students, and others around her. Lydia supported the Arts and frequently took her daughters and neighborhood friends to the Art Institute, Chicago Symphony Orchestra and American Ballet Theater performances. She had a curious mind, loved to travel and was always interested in new experiences. Her adventures with her family and her late husband Charles covered four continents. Some remarkable trips were the yearly east coast trips to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York where she visited with family and cared for her mother. She also made frequent trips to Europe, where our extended German and Russian relatives welcomed her with open arms. More recently, she traveled with her husband to follow polar bears in Canada, climb glaciers, hike the Amazon rainforest, tour New Zealand and Australia, and visit both Israel and Palestine. During her travels to the Amazon, Lydia became a sponsor to children living in the Amazon Rainforest. She sponsored two children from their early years into adulthood, helping with their schooling, housing, career training, and healthcare. She made a great difference and was very proud of both Lucia and Cesar. Lydia was an avid reader throughout her entire life. She passed this passion down to her children and grandchild. In her last several years, she joined an engaging book club with old friends and new acquaintances. Lydia walked every day with “the golden girls” and was known to complete a good 2 miles until just weeks before her passing. She was a most wonderful force and will be greatly missed.

A Celebration of Life will be held at St. Barnabas Church, 8901 Cary-Algonquin Rd, Cary, IL, on July 5th at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers please send any remembrances as donations to www.angelsoftheamazon.org/donate/