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Randall “Randy” Robert Sanford, 65, passed away October 27, 2022 at his home from cancer. He was born on October 30, 1956 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Randy attended Woodbury Elementary School before moving to River Falls in 1967. Upon graduating from River Falls High School in 1974, Randy attended Hamline University. He earned his Bachelor’s from UWRF and a Master’s degree from University of Minnesota.
In 2000, Randy married Brenda Rauscher and became a stepfather to her children, Andy and Aimee, whom he so dearly loved. While Randy had various jobs, his career was as a Senior Research Analyst for the Minnesota Department of Revenue. He considered golfing one of his most enjoyable pastimes, along with watching sports.
Randy will be remembered for his kind heart, his positivity, and passion for his family. He is survived by his wife, Brenda; children, Andy (Haley) Rauscher and Aimee (Rashad Starks) Rauscher; three grandchildren, Zalayah, Sarae, and Macklyn; mother, Reta (Lansing) Sanford; sisters, Connie (Duane) Haupt, Nalene Sanford, JoRae Sanford, and LaNelle (Craig) Johnson; brother-in-law, James (Kelly) Prince; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, as well as many other extended family.Randy is preceded in death by his father, Robert Sanford; and in-laws, Jerome and Joanne Prince.
Randy beat cancer both in the amount of time he was given and by not letting it change its affect on his positive spirit. Randy’s family express their gratitude to the dear people who rendered his care, friends, neighbors, and medical/hospice teams. A celebration of Randy’s life will be held at a later date. Cremation services provided by Bakken-Young Funeral & Cremation Services.
11 Comments
Randy graduated two years before me but I remember a kind, easygoing, always-smiling guy. He is the brother to my classmate to JoRae. To her and the entire Sanford family, my deepest sympathy.
Randy and family were distant cousins of mine. So sad to hear. I hadn’t seen Randy in many years but when I did we had great conversations. JoRae was also a classmate of mine and was babysitted at younger age by her older sister. My deepest thoughts and prayers for all of you.
Dan and I were so saddened to hear about Randy’s passing , a big smile all the time is what Dan remembers and bowling with him was also a fond memory. We send our deepest condolences
I worked with Randy and appreciated his tax expertise. I will sincerely miss his depth of knowledge of the tax system and patience. I am sad to hear of his passing but happy to have crossed professional paths with him. Peace and prayers to the Sanford family!
We are so sorry o hear about his death and your loss. Praying for you, him and family.
Randy was such a kind person. As a colleague, he was generous with his knowledge and expertise, and I especially enjoyed his temperament and sense of humor. I’m glad I had the opportunity to know him through work at the State of Minnesota. He will be missed!
Sad to hear of it. Randy was a good friend when good friends were hard to find. My sincere condolences to his family.
I was shocked and saddened to learn of Randy’s passing. I worked with him at Control Data and then later for many years at MN Revenue.
Sad to hear of Randy’s passing. I had recently contacted and spoke with his Mother; she informed me that he had cancer. Randy was a great person and we had a lot of fun back in the day. Randy and his family have been in my thoughts over the past couple of months. I am sad to hear of his passing.
I was deeply saddened to hear of Randy’s passing. I had no idea that he was ill. We spent a lot of time together in our youth and even shared an apartment in Houston, TX. back in the 80s. Randy was a close friend and one of the most amiable people I have ever met. I truly regret losing contact with him. My deepest sympathy and condolences to his family.
Randy and I began our friendship over twenty years ago when we became colleagues at the Minnesota Department of Revenue (DOR). During this short period of time, as it seems now, we had many opportunities to talk about work and non-work alike. And lunches in downtown Saint Paul and along University Avenue were quite frequent.
One nice event was a group outing to the Minnesota State Fair. When Randy stepped away from our table briefly, we hid his beer. When he got back, it became clear that he wanted his beer back pronto. That outing is a fond memory for me.
When the engine in my little red MR2 stopped working, I decided to put off getting a new car. I could tolerate getting to work without a car because I have pretty good public transportation between my Minneapolis home and the DOR building in Saint Paul.
But once, at the end of a workday, Randy said, “Come on, I’ll give you a ride home.” I said, “But I live west and you live east in River Falls.” But he insisted, so he gave me a ride home. When we got to my house, I kidded him and said, “We should do this more often.” He may have taken me seriously, because that ride was just the first of several rides I got from him, going way out of his way to get me home.
It was during these many opportunities Randy and I had to talk and be together that I came to know what a wonderful, kind, decent man Randy is. That makes me happy to know him.
The last outing that Randy and I had together was to go to the 2021 Minnesota State Fair. The 2020 State Fair had been cancelled due to COVID, and some people really wanted to go to the 2021 Fair including Randy and me. But, at the time, I had recently developed a foot problem called Charcot foot which requires me to wear a cumbersome boot on my foot called a CROW boot. And I wasn’t sure if I could tolerate walking around the fairgrounds.
But Randy wanted to go, and he also wanted me to be able to go. So he said he wanted to use his battery-powered electric scooter which would give me the opportunity to scoot around the fairgrounds instead of having to constantly walk.
I hemmed and hawed about going. I guess I wasn’t sure about my foot, and I wasn’t sure about the scooter. But Randy was persistent, and eventually I agreed to give it a try. So in August, Randy picked me up and we drove over to the fairgrounds. For the rest of the day, we alternated walking and scooting. It was a beautiful day, and it wasn’t crowded, as people were still concerned about COVID. And the scooter worked beautifully. We had a great time.
But unfortunately, a few weeks later, Randy was told he had cancer.
Like everyone else, I was hoping he would be blessed with a remission. He even told me that he would try to join us for a Tax Research celebration in June of 2022. But that didn’t happen. When the 2022 Minnesota State Fair was getting close, he challenged me to rent an electric scooter so I could scoot around again like we did in 2021. I checked out the scooters but I didn’t rent one, and my booted foot served me well.
Randy and I won’t be able to go to the State Fair again. And we are no longer colleagues. But he is and always will be my friend. And he is okay. And he is in good hands.
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