Paul Ray Randall

Paul Ray, as he was known by family and friends alike, was born to Ray and Wilma Randall on August 16, 1926 on an 80-arce dairy farm in Wolcott, Kansas. He joined his brother, Charles, 11 years his senior, helping in the dairy operation, later joined in 1930 by his brother, Gerald. He graduated from Washington High School in KCK in 1944 and soon after joined the United States Army. He serviced with distinction in both the US and the Philippines during World War II and was honorably discharged holding the rank of Staff Sergeant. Upon leaving the Army, he joined Simmons Mattress Company in Fairfax, Kansas, and worked there as an assembler for 40 years, retiring in 1987. He also worked a second job from 1960-1968 at the Railway Express Company.

In 1948, Paul Ray bought his first car, a brand new 1948 Nash. Shortly after purchasing the car, he drove to Kinston, North Carolina to visit his brother, Charles. While visiting, Charles played matchmaker and introduced Paul Ray to the girl next door, Bobbie Louise Quinn. For Paul Ray, it was love at first sight. He and Bobbie communicated via letters and the rare phone call and married on July 6, 1949 in a candlelight wedding ceremony held at the First Baptist Church of Kinston. They returned to Kansas City, Kansas where they made their home together and raised four children. They had been married 67 years when Bobbie passed away on October 18, 2016.

Paul Ray was an avid sports enthusiast, a player in his younger years, a coach to all four of his children’s volleyball, basketball, and baseball teams throughout their youth. He spent many Friday nights cheering on Wyandotte High School and Piper High School football and basketball teams, the schools his children attended. And Paul Ray loved the Royals and the Chiefs and relished in their victories and championships.

When you met Paul Ray, you were immediately drawn to his warm smile, gregarious nature, and infectious laugh. Upon meeting you, he would always ask for your birthdate; when you told him, he then knew it for the remainder of his life. His amazing capacity to remember all those birthdays displayed itself in other ways, too. His children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren attest to his uncanny ability to recount for them, on practically every day of the years, an important (or not so important) event that occurred that particular day in the Randall family history. Paul Ray was a dedicated genealogist and spent countless hours tracing and documenting the history of the Randall family back to the mid-1700’s in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, later to Indiana and finally to the Kansas he loved. He entertained his family and friends with the stories of Randall family history and his youth, remarking in later years, “if I have told you this story before, don’t stop me – I love telling it!” and he was never stopped. His gift for storytelling is one of the things his children remember most fondly and will miss tremendously.

Paul Ray was preceded in death by his parents and his brothers, his wife, Bobbie, and his son Tom’s partner, Bartlett D. Clinton. He is survived by his four children, Paula Randall Pratt and her husband, James E. Pratt, of Kansas City, MO.; his son Thomas Wayne Randall and his husband, Arturo G. Chavez, of Palm Springs, CA.; his son Ray Quinn Randall, of Shawnee, Kansas; and son David Allan Randall and his partner, Julie Petersen, of Kansas City, Kansas. Paul Ray also leaves 6 grandchildren, Tracey McMahan and her husband, Mark; Steven Randall Sammon and his wife, Katie; Christopher Paul Randall and his wife, Brooke; Kyle ray Randall, Kortney Renee Randall, and her fiancé’, Matt Blevins, and Katlyn Nicole Randall and her partner, Brandon Cunningham. He is also survived by 9 great-grandchildren.

The family would like to thank the caring staff at Country Place Senior Living Center for the care and compassion they showed during the years Paul Ray was in residence there.

Services will be held at Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home, 701 N. 94th Street, Kansas City, Kansas on Wednesday, February 12 2020 where friends may call from noon to 1:00 pm. The service begins at 1:00 pm. He will be buried next to his beloved wife, Bobbie, in Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, 701 N. 94th St. Kansas City, Kansas. Memorial Contributions may be made in Paul Ray’s on the Heartland Honor Flight, Attn: Donations, PO Box 843930, Kansas City, MO 64184.