Marjorie Randell

Marjorie Irish Randell, 98, passed away Friday July 23, 2020 at her home in Seal Beach, California. She was married to her late husband Edward William Randell, Sr. for 67 years. Her eternal rest will be side-by-side with Edward, interred in the Irish Family Plot in the Coopersville, Michigan Cemetery.

Marjorie Jean Irish was born on February 11, 1922 to Howard Hammond and Mary Elisabeth Bowser Irish at their farm home north of Coopersville, Michigan. She attended local schools, and graduated from Coopersville High School in June 1940. She attended Grand Rapids Jr. College before entering the U. S. Marine Corps in March of 1943 and married Edward W. Randell, Sr. April 11, 1943 before leaving for active duty. She received basic training at Hunter College in New York City and was then sent to Navy Storekeepers School at Indiana University. Upon graduation Marjorie was sent to Jacksonville Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, Florida, and later to Cherry Point, North Carolina. She was honorably discharged in June of 1944. She raised four sons, sold real estate for twenty years in Southern California, and retired in Northern California. Marjorie attended the University of California at Sacramento for two years. She felt compelled to write a book, "Searching for Friday's Child", about her brother Howard Hammond Irish, Jr. who was lost to the Sulu Sea when the POW hell ship he was on was torpedoed and sunk.

She is predeceased by her husband Edward, her father and mother, and her brother Howard (nicknamed Jack). Marjorie is survived by: her four sons, Edward William Randell, Jr. (Mardi), David Howard Randell (Jamie), Curtis Wiley Randell (Annette), and Thomas Hazen Randell (Lorrianne); eight grand children, Jonathan Randell (Denyse), Nathan (Sabrina), Adam, and Ted Randell (Elisa), Althea Randell DeBeer (Chad), Jesse Randell (Janette), Heather Randell Deja (Matthew), Brooke Randell, and six great grand children, Kaitlyn, Quinn and Violet Randell, Jack Randell, and Simon and Crosby DeBeer.

Marjorie was a prolific author, and produced 5 self-published books. The first was written to honor her brother Howard ('Searching for Friday's Child'). The second was a fictional mystery entitled 'The Aerie, Air Strip on Weeks Mountain'. The third was an account of she and her husband, 'Edward W. Randell, Sr., His Flight Through Life'. The fourth was a combination of fact and fiction describing her husband's Grandmother, 'Emma Clarke Pratt, One Life'. A fifth book has not yet been published; it is currently undergoing final review and formatting. The title will be - 'Here's Marjorie Jean with Her Story'.

Arrangements are under the direction of Forest Lawn, Cypress, California, and Throop Funeral Homes, Coopersville, Michigan. The following tribute is from Marjorie's niece Althea.

My grandmother, Marjorie Jean Irish Randell, was the best woman I have ever known. She was strong, empathetic, oh-so-disciplined, and always full of gratitude. She was grateful for everything; her 4 doting sons, her grandchildren, and any flowers within her line of sight. She was one to literally stop and smell the roses! She was a proud woman, proud of her family, her heritage, and her country.

Marjorie was much more than a grandmother to me. When I was young, I would spend weekends with her and my grandfather on Metz Street in Long Beach. Our days were filled with gardening, baking, lots of crafts, and my most favorite thing, feeding the ducks at El Dorado Park. In my teens, they moved to Northern CA, and she became my pen pal. She was my best pen pal, entertaining my wavering teenage emotions with such care and diligently writing me back! In my twenties, she mothered me. Cringing and correcting my poor grammar, she gifted me my best college writing resource book, titled "Woe Is I". She wrote an inspirational message inside the cover and signed it from "The Grammar Police". It was only years later that we laughed about that. From my 30's on, she was my friend, someone I called when I felt lost or was trying figure out major life decisions. She was a wealth of advice; always honest and never sugar coated. I trusted she would never lead me astray. She was my true North.

We are all so incredibly fortunate to have had Marjorie in our lives this long. She had an incredible life, one that she was proud of. She recognized her story was special, that the world would never be the same, and she wrote it down for future generations to learn from and appreciate. She lived with integrity and made the world a better place. I will miss her immensely and am comforted that she is right where she wants to be, flying high with Edward and the eagles! Goodbye, GG.