13, 1951, the youngest of 3 sons. He obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Stony Brook
University in New York, in 1973. Upon completing his bachelor’s degree, he headed off for a year’s
adventure, living and working in Norway.
After a year of living abroad, he decided that he wanted to further his education. He moved back to the US
in the fall of 1974 and entered Eastern Washington University to obtain his master’s degree. This is where
he met the love of his life, his future wife, Laurie Lane.
Following completion of his Master’s Degree, he and Laurie moved back to Laurie’s roots, Portland,
Oregon, where he began working as a School Psychologist. He worked for several years in the Lake
Oswego School District before deciding to go back to school and complete his Ph.D. in Educational
Psychology at the University of Oregon. Armed with the Ph.D., he began working as an educational
consultant and adjunct instructor for several local universities.
During the mid 90s he founded the NW Teachers’ Learning Center, which offered continuing education
courses for educators. He also began working in the Beaverton School District as a School Psychologist.
He liked to say that during the 80s and 90s his time was spent raising the pride and joy of his life, his 3
sons, Zachary, Isaac, and Nathan. He always felt that they were far and beyond, his greatest
accomplishments.
Declining health led to his early retirement in 2004, but he was not ready to throw in the proverbial towel.
Despite his numerous health issues he continued volunteering his time with students and spent time
learning new ways to improve his health. In 2015 he had his leg amputated, related to his diabetes. He had such a positive attitude and saw the amputation as a door opening, allowing him access to the rest of his life. It allowed him to reengage with swimming, which provided him with such comfort. His positive
attitude is encapsulated in the following email he sent to a family member last year:
"Life is good at the moment. For several months I had been plateauing physically. I was starting to wonder
if there was another Randy comeback in me Well, there appears to be another one. I took some swimming lessons to relearn some of the strokes I had forgotten. At my age I keep being reminded of brain basics. If you don’t use it, you lose it. Having been a good swimmer, I’ve forgotten how to swim, even how to tread water. With me practicing new strokes, I’m strengthening my core, which in turn helps with my walking. The more I walk, the stronger I get and the stronger I get, the more I walk. Along with walking and swimming, I’ve continued to play wheelchair tennis. A couple of weeks ago I made a breakthrough there with being able to maneuver my chair better. The trick is to keep it moving so I don’t have any starts and stops, which also stresses my heart... So all is good in the physical department."
Randy was preceded in death by his parents Aaron and Flora Koval, and brothers, Larry and Steve Koval.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, his 3 sons, his beloved siblings-in-law, cherished nieces and
nephews, and special friends.
In closing, we like to share with you an email that Randy sent to his family regarding his life:
"Since I hurt my leg and haven’t been able to be involved, I’ve noticed that I’ve been thinking more than
usual to pass the time. Here’s my biggest thought for the week so far I thought I’d share it with you. When I was coming home on the light rail this week, I was observing all of the people around me as I usually do.
There were several grandparents with their grandkids. It got me thinking how nice it would be visiting
grandkids and playing with them. I share this not to put pressure on you or make you feel guilty.
As I thought about it more, I also understood that I currently enjoy my time with each of you and that if you
were married and/or had grandkids that would change the whole dynamic. I don’t think I could enjoy my
time with you any more than it is now. I also can’t have both situations occurring at the same time.
As we all look to the future, there are events that we look forward to but where do I draw the line? Let’s
say any one of you has a significant other. Do I look forward to knowing them? Do I look forward to the
possibility of you having children? Do I look forward to seeing them grow up? At some point this time line
has to end. Am I going to live to 70, 80, 100, 150? So do I place a greater value to any of these points in
time? I better not because I’d lose my place in time. The only thing I can do is enjoy the most of the time I
find myself in and who is to say that one situation is inherently better than another? I’ve enjoyed every
phase so far of your lives.
Isn’t that what life is all about? I spent too much of my life in the future when I was younger, where I
couldn’t wait to get to… If I could just get to… then all would be good. That’s when time went too quickly
because I wasn’t in the present but in a future that didn’t actually exist. Yes, memories are what we build
everything around and future visions help lead the way forward but we must also spend most of our time in the present. This is such a difficult concept to actually live but I will continue to nudge myself when I veer off into the rough.
Love you all,
Dad"
In lieu of flowers the family is requesting that donations be made in Randy’s memory to White Bird Dance Company or to diabetes research through American Diabetes Association.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18