Wilma E. Randall

April 9, 1929 - August 28, 2019

Wilma Elaine Randall, age 90 of Clare, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, August 28, 2019 at the Woodland Hospice Home of Mt. Pleasant with her family by her side. Wilma was born the second of seven children to Harley O. And Rose E. (Bell) Worstell on April 9, 1929 in Yawkey, WV. Two weeks after her fourth birthday, her family moved to Oil City, MI., where her father Harley had found work—a scarcity during the depression years. That first year, the family lived in a tent skinnied down over a wooden framework with a solid door. Gas for heat on the oil field lease was free, but not always regular. Working seven days a week and eight to ten hours a day, her father made time to build a small house and hunt for wild game to to provide meat for his family. Work in the oil fields was sporadic. The family moved quite often and school districts changed, so Wilma attended nine different public schools: Oil City, Porter, St. Louis, Mt. Pleasant, Windover, Doc and Tom, Temple, Harrison, and Clare. Starting school at Oil City, kindergarten was not required. Instead there was a soft cover primer (Dick and Jane) which took two weeks to finish; then you were in the first grade. Consequently, Wilma was sixteen her senior year of high school until a month before she graduated as the Class Valedictorian of 1946. Her last semester of school she assisted in the Superintendent’s office after school and on Saturdays, learning the job. She started as the Superintendent’s secretary immediately upon graduation, and held this position for three years. Following her job at Clare Public Schools, Wilma worked at several different jobs: bookkeeper at Clare Hardware, confidential secretary for Arctic Research where she prepared documents for the military, legal secretary for Hughes and Trucks, Grant Township Clerk, cost analysis at Worldtronics and Marsh Elevator Bookeeper. Wilma began working full time at Mid Michigan Community College, Harrison, in 1969 and retired from there in 1992. During those twenty-three years she worked in several different capacities: Business Office, Student Services, Director of Student Records, Administrative Assistant to the Board of Trustees, and Director of Human Resources. Meantime, she earned thirty semester hours advanced credit through the College Level Entrance Program at Central Michigan University, and took the rest of the required classes for an Associate in Business Administration Degree at Mid Michigan Community College, earning a 4.0 GPA, and graduating with an outstanding academic excellence award and as the Outstanding Business Graduate of 1974. On June 23, 1947, Wilma was married to Herbert J. Randall of Clare in a garden ceremony in Grant Township. Herbert was a building contractor with his father. The newly married couple lived in Clare for a short time and then moved to Grant Township where they eventually built two houses and, later, remodeled a third—their present home. Wilma drew the working plans for both new houses. They raised four children Karl Wayne, Andra Lane, Calvin Kent, and Lisa Beth, losing their second child Jonathan Dane at birth. Upon retiring from MMCC June 30, 1992, Herbert and Wilma started spending their winters at Southern Pine Resort, Frostproof, FL. There, in addition to taking exercise and clogging classes, her and her sister, Phyllis, instructed the line dancing class starting in 2009. After losing her sister in February of 2011, Wilma continued leading the class starting at age eighty-two. Becoming a Christian in 1958, off and on over the years she taught the young people’s Bible class at the Clare and then Shepherd Churches of Christ. When they started attending the Frostproof, FL. Church of Christ, she taught that class there for part of a year, also. Two of the highlights of her life included traveling. In March of 1984, she and her sisters, her sister-in law, and her niece flew to Jamacia and spent a week at Ochos Rios, St. Ann in the West Indies. In January, 1999, the four older siblings and their spouses took an eight day cruise to the Western Caribbean. Wilma has been actively involved in the Clare County Chapter of the Michigan Association of Retired Personnel since 1992, holding several positions: Secretary, Publicity, Historian, Scholarship, State Delegate, and President. Hobbies have included writing poetry, art, crafts, crocheting, and reading. At the present time, Wilma’s family includes their children: Karl (Robin) Randall, Andra (Keith) Wellsted, Kent (Jackie) Randall, and Lisa (Steve) Radak. She has nine grandchildren: Adam (Danielle) Randall, Kara (Dustin) Reed, Seth (Jenny) Wellsted, Zachary Wellsted, Benjamin and Rachyl Randall, Trista (Andrew) Brown, Cory (Bridget) Radak, Nicholas Radak, Angela (Jason) Strong, and Sara (Chad) Vos. Her great-grandchildren include Elle, Enosh, Everett, William, Emalee, Ella, Eden, Cilya, and Connor. Her surviving siblings are Jean (Lyle) Clarke, Karen (Edward) Bryant-Lagarde, Jan (Fred) Fahs, Brenda (Steve) Newman, and sister-in-law Janet Worstell. Wilma was preceded in death by her husband Herbert Randall, her parents Harley and Rose Worstell, her siblings Phyllis and Harvey Hartshorn and Elwood Worstell, her daughter-in-law Natalie Randall, and her infant son Jonathan. A funeral service in honor of Wilma will take place on Wednesday, September 4, 2019 at 11:00 A.M. at the Farwell Chapel of the Stephenson-Wyman Funeral Home with Evangelist Tom Palmer officiating. Burial will follow in the Cherry Grove Cemetery of Clare. Friends may visit Wilma’s family at the funeral home on Tuesday the 3rd from 2:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. Memorial contributions in honor of Wilma may be directed to the Mid Michigan College Scholarship Fund. For those unable to attend, online condolences may be shared at www.stephenson-wyman.com