Randal Dewayne Day

DR. RANDAL "RANDY" DEWAYNE DAY May 30, 1948 ~ January 17, 2017 "Randy's greatest passion was family, a theme manifested in every aspect of his life." Dr. Randal "Randy" DeWayne Day, 68, of Vancouver, WA, passed away unexpectedly of an aneurysm on Jan. 17, 2017 while serving as a full-time senior missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) in the Romania/Moldova Mission with his beloved wife, Larri-Lea. He was born on May 30, 1948 in Vancouver, WA to Ralph Millard Day and Barbara Elaine Beck and was the oldest of five brothers. Randy met his sweetheart shortly after returning home from a full-time LDS mission in the Central British Mission (1967-1969) and they married in the Oakland, CA LDS temple. Randy cherished his wife above all else and often referred to her as "Saint-Lea." Randy and Larri-Lea raised five children together. The children's most treasured memories of their dad include playing games, campfires, sing-alongs while he played guitar, eating a lunches of sandwiches and chips, going for drives (and sometimes getting lost), "home ecology" (aka yard work) and watching slideshows (so many slideshows). Randy's eight grandchildren were blessed with a generous, engaged, humorous and loving Grandpa. Professionally, Randy possessed the rare combination of being both a respected scholar and a revered teacher. He dedicated his life's work to researching family systems and fathering. After graduating with a bachelor's, two master's and a PhD, Randy served as faculty at South Dakota State University, Washington State University and most recently Brigham Young University, where he retired from the School of Family Life in 2016. Randy's work took him all over the world and has been nationally and internationally recognized. He was the recipient of many awards and distinctions, though he never felt worthy of them. Perhaps more important than the recognition for the hundreds of published articles, research projects, grants, and textbooks written, will be how Randy impacted the lives of thousands of students and colleagues. Randy's college students were personally mentored through meaningful lectures and generous counseling amidst his demand for excellence. Randy believed that community was an extension of family and spent thousands of hours in quiet service to those around him. His testimony of Jesus Christ could be seen in the way he gave freely of his time through his listening ear, advice, companionship and problem solving expertise. He dedicated his efforts to church service as a home teacher, scout and youth leader, Seminary teacher, Sunday School teacher, member of bishoprics and branch presidencies (seven times) and full-time missionary. Randy served anyone-sick, divorced, widowed, imprisoned-loyally and faithfully. Randy also managed to find time to enjoy many hobbies at different stages of his life including sports, collecting baseball cards and pins, playing the guitar, gathering and recording family history, travelling, and photography. Randy is survived by his wife, Larri-Lea (Gilchrist Kissell) of Vancouver; son, Sean (Jean Lee) Day of Seattle; daughter, Jennifer (Andrew) Walker of Logan, UT; daughter, Alyson Day of Vancouver; daughter, Carrie (Jacob) Franklin of New York City; son, Jacob (Karina) Day of Vancouver; father, Ralph Day of Orem, UT; four brothers; eight grandchildren; and numerous sisters and brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, uncles, aunts and cousins whom he dearly loved. He was preceded in death by his mother, Barbara. Please join us as we celebrate his life at a memorial service on Jan. 28, 2017 at the LDS Church, 14400 NW 26th Ave., Vancouver, WA. A viewing will be held from 9-10:30 a.m. Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. with burial immediately following. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to his favorite charity, Habitat for Humanity, at habitat.org/donate. Funeral arrangements by Evergreen Memorial Gardens, 1101 NE 112th Ave., Vancouver, WA 98684. http://www.evergreenmemorialgardens.com/ Please sign his guest book at: www.columbian.com/obits.

Randal Dewayne Day

May 30, 1948 - January 17, 2017