Obituary: Randolph Parkin May Sr. 1914 - 2009Published: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 in The Sacramento Bee.
MAY, Randolph Parkin
Bon voyage to a truly remarkable, fulfilled life of love, joy, romance, world travel, adventure and extraordinary service to our nation and community. Born January 7, 1914 in Portland, Oregon to Samuel C. May and Eleanor P. May, Randy leaves behind his beloved wife of 50 years, Jeanette; children, Randolph P. (Parky) May Jr., Eleanor May Rasmussen and Carolyn May Walpole; grandchildren; great-grandchildren; and his beloved cats, Sparky and Fluffy.
He was educated at U.C. Berkeley and graduated as J.D. from McGeorge School of Law and served the State of California for 39 years as an Administrative Law Judge.
In WWII he landed at Utah Beach in Normandy on DD6 and later served as an Artillery Battalion Captain in Belgium. After the war he spent 20 years in the Army Reserve, retiring as a Lt. Colonel.
He was a volunteer for the original Arden Fire Department in the 1950's and 1960's. A lifelong athlete, Randy was a skilled mountain climber and skier - he was one of the first members of the National Ski Patrol, of which he remained for the rest of his life. He was honored to be Executive Director of the Olympic Ski Patrol in Squaw Valley, 1960. Randy became an early American Red Cross volunteer as a result of his Ski Patrol activities and volunteered actively for the rest of his life.
After retiring from the State, Randy and Jeanette formed a team joining the American Red Cross National Disaster Volunteers and for 30 years served at many National disasters - floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, and fires. In 1978 Randy and Jeanette were sent to China by the American Red Cross as ambassadors to the Chinese Red. Cross. Randy served on the Red Cross Board of Directors for many years, and he and Jeanette were honored by the Sacramento Sierra Chapter of the American Red Cross as Community Treasures for their combined volunteer service of over 100 years.
In his spare time Randy served on the Board of Directors of his Nepenthe Homeowners Association and he and Jeanette served as docents for 10 years at the State, Capitol Museum. They also became docents at the Leland Stanford Mansions and served up until two years ago.
They were world travelers and have friends in many countries. Randy climbed Ayres Rock in Australia in 1988 - quite an accomplishment at age 75. One of the joys of Randy's life was spending time at their beautiful condo on the beach in Maui, Hawaii, which Randy and Jeanette enjoyed together for over 30 years. This wonderful man will be sorely missed by his family and friends.