My hubby, Randall “Randy” Lewis Krauter, passed away peacefully at home in the early morning hours on October 21, 2022, at age 65 with members of his family by his side. We then laid his remains to rest and celebrated his amazing life on November 19th, 2022. It was my final act of service to my sweet husband.
I’d like to share his amazing eulogy given by his brother, Bob Krauter:
Good morning. I am Bob Krauter, one of Randy’s brothers.
Randy’s life is chronicled in the obituary that Leilani so lovingly wrote. I’m sure you will be amazed and surprised to read that Randy was an actor, an artist, an athlete, a sailor, a savvy chess player, a hot sauce aficionado, a chef, and of course an incredibly gifted engineer.
Others today will speak about his pursuits on the high seas and his engineering career. So, I am going to share with you just a few of the many memories of Randy that I have and will cherish for the rest of my life.
Randy was a man of great character, with internal strength, wisdom, humor, and compassion.
I admired him.
I admired his work ethic developed on our family farm. Dad would wake his sons at 5 a.m. and we would move irrigation pipe through wet fields of cotton. Randy worked in the blazing summer heat helping to harvest the crops our dad grew.
I admired Randy’s zest for life. By the age of seven, it was clear he was destined to be a sailor and an engineer. One summer, he had the bright idea to construct a large boat --- made out of old wooden grape boxes. It was a massive craft with a flybridge, lower cabin, and main deck! Ahoy!
I admired Randy’s affinity for both the visual and performing arts, probably inspired by the talents of our mother and grandmother. He won awards for his paintings and crafted beautiful stained glass. One of his painting masterpieces combines his love of the ocean and art ---- a large painting of a clipper ship with waves crashing over the bow. It is showcased today near the table right outside the door.
He excelled in the performing arts as well, starring in three high school plays, and more locally, in the Krauter Road Marching Band. As one of the youngest of our 32 cousins, Randy would join in playing a ‘virtual’ instrument. I can still see him playing an imaginary trumpet or trombone in our grand parade, high-stepping down the road!
Randy enjoyed golf, but his big athletic passion was baseball. Like Dad and Grandpa Krauter, Randy bled Dodger Blue. He loved baseball. He eagerly joined in on games played on a patch of flat dirt near Grandpa Krauter’s house with a backstop constructed by our dad and Uncle Johnny. Randy, being a left-handed batter, sent more than a few homerun balls to right field, ricocheting off the old rusty cotton picker.
I think my fondest memory - and surely what I admired him the most for - was his relationship with Leilani. From the moment I first saw them together, it was clear he was smitten - beaming with joy and happiness. He became an even better ‘best version’ of himself by knowing and loving her. When they married in 2013, it was a grand celebration. It didn’t matter that Vancouver was sweltering in record heat, Randy had found his person, his partner, and his best friend. We all witnessed “Aloha” whenever we were in their presence.
I admired Randy’s reverence for life and all the magic and joy that comes from living well. My gentle giant of a brother loved the smallest of dogs ---- his beloved Yorkie, Sebastian, who he adopted as his, too, when he married Leilani.
I admired Randy’s love of adventure - winning sailing races with his friends and exploring Puget Sound in their boats – and never had to buy one of his own! He relished opportunities to travel for pleasure as well as for work, traveling to Germany to visit his oldest brother stationed there, to China, Thailand, and Malaysia for work, and to Hawaii to celebrate my wedding, just a year after his own. It was Randy who inspired me to find my own love story…and I am so grateful to him.
My brother was interested and interesting: he was incredibly smart with a depth of knowledge on an array of subjects as wide as the Columbia River. He could talk to just about anyone on just about any topic.
We are all familiar with the words in wedding vows --- In sickness and in health, and till death do us part. Randy’s heart attack in 2017 was shocking and devastating, but this tragic event revealed yet another depth of love between him and Leilani. The two of them became models for all of us on how to honor and treasure our life partners through all of life’s hills and valleys.
We are gathered here today to celebrate and honor Randy, who so enriched our lives. Take a look around …Randy lives on in all of us. Reach out to each other today to continue to experience him because he gave each of us a part of himself to cherish and to remind us to live well.
Opmerkingen