Randall Glenn Voss

Randall Glenn Voss was born November 22, 1941, the second of three sons, to Glenn Henry Voss and Naomi Annie Thompson Voss, in Green River Wyoming, where he spent his early childhood. When he was fourteen years old, the family moved to Salt Lake City, where his father worked as a machinist for the Union Pacific Railroad. During high school, Randall was very active in the LDS Seminary program, played the saxophone in his high school band, and loved to play basketball. In 1960, he graduated from West High School in Salt Lake City, and entered the Utah Air National Guard, later serving in the Air Force Reserve. Randall was very patriotic, and continued to honor veterans and military service throughout his life.

In 1961, Randall received an LDS mission call to the Eastern States MIssion, where he worked in New York City, Long Island, and surrounding areas. He served as Secretary to the Mission President during the final six months of his mission. Upon returning from his mission in 1963, he entered Brigham Young University, where he majored in Sociology, receiving a Bachelor of Science Degree. In 1964, he married Ivy Norris, and they became the parents of eight children.

During the 1970’s, the growing family lived in Salt Lake City, where Randall was employed by the LDS Church in various capacities, including Food Service Administrator, supervising catering programs for the General Authorities and visiting dignitaries in the Church Administration Building, and for the Missionary Training Center, which was then located in Salt Lake City. He enjoyed that service and became well-acquainted with most of the General Authorities at that time. He served in many church leadership positions in local wards and stakes, and was instrumental in developing the consolidated block meeting schedule currently used through the church. In 1978, the family relocated to Lindon, Utah and later to Orem, Utah, where both Randall and Ivy pursued graduate degrees from BYU, Randall in management, and Ivy In law school. Randall served in many church positions, including five years as Bishop, and service as a High Counselor, and as a temple ordinance worker in the Provo Temple. Later, he also served as an ordinance worker in the Mesa Arizona Temple.

In 1990, he received a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from the BYU Marriott School of Management. From 1981 to 1992, he served as an Assistant Administrator for Intermountain Healthcare in the American Fork Hospital, and the Utah Valley Hospital in Provo, Utah. His professional career was interrupted in 1990, when he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which eventually caused him to take medical retirement. Although on medical retirement, he served in many church positions. He also worked with the Benson Institute at BYU. In 1995, the family relocated to Mesa, Arizona where Ivy was employed as an attorney. Despite his ongoing medical and health challenges, Randall continued to perform much genealogy and family history work and completed two church service missions.

During this time, he became involved with Care For Life, a humanitarian group then being formed in Mesa and Gilbert to provide aid in in Mozambique in east Africa. He loved this work, and eventually became an Executive Director, and made many trips to Mozambique. He loved the African people and cherished his time working with them. In 2010, he suffered a debilitating cerebral hemorrhage, which along with the progressing multiple sclerosis, heart disease, and and a diagnosis of cancer in 2015, severely limited his activities.

Despite his health challenges, Randall was always known for his cheerful and upbeat attitude, and his love for people. Randall loved to travel even in his later years when it was more challenging and he required the use of a wheelchair or scooter. With Ivy, he took many trips, including to New Orleans, London, Hawaii, and too many Disneyland trips to count. The family cherished those Disneyland vacations together and almost any family gathering will include stories and memories of those experiences.

Randall passed away on October 2, 2017, after prolonged and increasingly difficult illness. He was predeceased by his parents and both of his brothers, Ralph Neil Voss and Howard LaMar Voss. He is survived by his wife, Ivy Norris Voss, and by his eight children and their families: Randall Wesley Voss (Linda), Dawn Voss Bailey (Paul), Lisa Voss Abbott (Gary), David Glenn Voss (Felicia), Michelle Voss Crockett (Kenny), Jason Taylor Voss (Lindsay), Chantelle Voss Williams (Solomon), and Kristin Voss Williams (Taylor). He leaves 28 grandchildren and one great grandson. He will be greatly missed, but his family and friends rejoice in his release from his pain and disability, and look forward to being together with him beyond this life.