Howard Louis Randall

Howard Louis Randall of Lakewood, California, passed away peacefully of natural causes on August 20, 2017 at 5:18 pm at the age of 96.

He was born in Decatur, Illinois on October 26, 1920 to Myrtle Elizabeth (Cole) and Alva G. Randall, the youngest of three sons. His family moved to Glendale, California when he was five years old.  His mother was a professional piano player and even had him singing on the radio - which lasted about three minutes until his voice cracked!  He rode his bicycle making deliveries for 25 cents each for a pharmacy in Glendale.  His parents divorced and he was back in Decatur working with his father in his mattress business.  Headstrong, he left home at 16 with just an eighth grade education and lived as a hobo on the railroad, working for food from town to town.

One time when he was hitchhiking, he was picked up by a well dressed man in a fancy car who drove him all the way to Las Vegas. They talked along the way and the man persuaded him that he should go back home.  When they arrived in Las Vegas, he took him to the bus station and paid for his ticket back home to California... he swears the man was Howard Hughes.

He joined the navy on January 7, 1941. He received training and became a Motor Machinist Mate, later serving on the USS Idaho, USS Sperry, USS Hoist, the Prestige - Mine Sweep, and was stationed on Midway Island as well.  He had been at Pearl Harbor, and fortunately shipped out just before the attack.  He had many stories to tell of his military experiences, but was most proud that he was promoted to Chief in the field without any testing.

He met Betty Brock at a roller skating rink... they were married on April 7, 1945 in Los Angeles. When his tour of duty ended in December of that year, they settled in California in a cottage type house trailer that was sloped at both ends so they could only stand up in the middle.  Then they built a trailer of their own where they stayed until they moved to Michigan near her family.  They moved back to California to a house in Norwalk in 1949 where they lived until moving to Lakewood in 1963. They had three children, Ken, Glenn and Kathy.

He went to school at the Electronic Technical Institute which later led him to the aerospace industry. He was a reliability engineer and worked on several Apollo missions, simulating the atmospheric conditions in space to test the varying spaceship components for endurance.

He always enjoyed a cold beer, and had a keg on tap for many years. He spent his retired days working around the house keeping busy until he'd sit down in front of the tv to relax with a beer in the afternoons.  He loved to bowl.  He made so many friends bowling and would practice whenever he could, usually at Cerritos Lanes where he bowled in two leagues a week.

He is survived by his son, Glenn Randall (wife Candace) daughter Kathy Randall, and daughter-in-law Sandra Randall, grandsons Matthew Sipes (wife Momo) and Jeremy Sipes (wife Aly), granddaughter Lisa Randall, and great grandchildren Shawn, Hailey, Taylor, Michael and Lily Sipes. His wife, Betty, of 70 years predeceased him on June 11, 2015, son Kenneth Randall passed on January 1, 2004, and both parents and brothers predeceased him.

He was an amazing man and led a very full life - he was loved by many and will be missed...

Luyben Dilday Mortuary (562) 425-6401