Charles I. Randall

Charles I. Randall, 99, of Columbia, CT, died peacefully at home on November 12, 2017.  He was born on November 5, 1918, in Providence, RI, the son of the late Charles H. and Gertrude (Orchard) Randall.  

Charles graduated from LaSalle high school, Providence, RI, where he excelled in track and cross country, winning a State Championship in the mile run in 1935.  He attended Springfield College in Massachusetts, and moved on to be a drafting apprentice at Taft Pierce Manufacturing.  During WWII, while stationed in the Philippines, he served as a navigator/gunner in the P61 Black Widow Night Fighter Squadron.  After returning from the war, he moved with his family to Columbia in 1950, to work at the American Thread Company in Willimantic as a design engineer.  Later, he was an aviation engineer for 25 years at Pratt-Whitney Aircraft, based in East Hartford, until his retirement.  Locally he was active in the Columbia Recreation Council, the Inlands Wetlands Commission, and the Columbia Canoe Club.

Charlie lived at home with the support of his family, neighbors, the many people in town who knew him, and his live-in caregiver, throughout the final days of his life, with dignity, humor and grace, offering to help others in any way he could.  He is survived by his two daughters, Susan Randall of Jacksonville Beach, Florida; Harriet Randall and her husband, Wim Smits, of Thunder Bay, Ontario, and their children, Stephanie and Steven, and their grandson, Adam; his son, Charles Allan Randall, and his wife, Nancy, of North Kingstown, RI, and their children, Catherine, Erik and Belinda; his son-in-law, Peter Rich of Mansfield, CT, and his daughter Leslie; and several nieces and nephews.  He was predeceased by his wife Florence (Belcourt), his daughter, Barbara Rich, and his grandson, Peter Rich, Jr., as well as his brother Robert Randall and his sisters Pauline Horne and Dorothy Randall.

There are no calling hours.  A private memorial service will be held at the convenience of the family. For an online memorial guestbook please visit www.potterfuneralhome.com.     

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