Carey Woodson Randall

COLUMBIA - Funeral service for Brig. Gen. Carey Woodson “Woody” Randall, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), 82, will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday, October 10, 2014, at Northeast Presbyterian Church. Burial with full military honors will follow at 1:00 p.m. in Ft. Jackson National Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 6 until 8:00 p.m. Thursday, October 9, 2014, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Northeast Chapel.

Woody passed away peafully on Monday, October 6, 2014 at Wildewood Downs surrounded by his family. Born October 13, 1931 in Charlotte, N.C., he was the son of the late Carey Enoch and Ollie Bond Bondurant Randall. He grew up in Columbia and received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering with communications from the University of S.C. He continued his higher education with a master’s degree in marketing from Georgia State. While at USC, he played basketball and was a lifetie Gamecock fan. He enjoyed golf and played the Hilton Head Heritage Pro-Am fifteen times and was once on the winning team.

Woody met and married his wife, Anne, on July 26, 1957, while working for Southern Bell in the Greenville District Engineering office. As an engineer, he was very successful and had many career advancements. His career in engineering and telecommunications were with Southern Bell, AT&T, Laidlaw Environmental and Bank of America. After a long and successful career in the telecommunications industry, Woody retired from AT&T in June 1985.

Woody continued his service to his country in the Georgia Air National Guard as Deputy Commander at the Savannah Air National Guard Base. Woody is a retired Colonel of the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Georgia Air National Guard Brigadier General. He had a unique tenderness in his leadership style and loved his family and his country. He was a member of Northeast Presbyterian Church and his favorite hobby was golf.

One of the achievements Woody was most proud of was writing and publishing a book entitled “America/Virginia the Beginning, with Family Histories and Genealogies.” Woody also served as Chairman of the International Communications Association. He was Chairman and CEO of the Celebrate Freedom Foundation and served in that position until late 2007. He then served as Chairman Emeritus. In addition, he began the “Take a Soldier Home for the Holiday” program. Mayor Bob Coble proclaimed “Woody Randall Day” in 2000 and presented him the key to the city.

Surviving is his loving wife of 58 years, Marianne “Anne” Brown Randall of Columbia; sons: Carey Woodson Randall II and his wife, Judy Parler Randall and their son, James Woodson Randall and his fiancée, Claire Anne Holaday; Michael Cain Randall and his wife, Terri Duval Randall and their daughters, Logan Marie Randall and Emery Michel Randall; daughter, Deena Randall Edwards and her fiancé, Glenn Ray McPherson and Deena’s children, Reagin West Edwards and Reese Woodson Edwards and their father, Chad Reagin Edwards; sister, Saralynn Randall Crawford and her husband, Charles Rion Crawford; sister-in-law, Betty B. Collins; nieces, Kathy Crawford Mercer, Karen Collins Ellis, Mindy Collins McCall; nephews, Kevin Wes Collins and Michael Carey Crawford. Memorials may be made to Wounded Warrior Project, 4899 Belfort Road, Suite 300, Jacksonville, FL 32256 or www.woundedwarriorproject.org.