In Memory of

Randy S. Carlson

August 21, 1951 - April 16, 2019

Obituary

On Tuesday, April 16th, 2019, Randy Carlson, loving friend, husband, and father, passed from this life
and onto a greater adventure. Randy was born on August 21st
, 1951 in Onawa, Iowa, to Leo and Virginia
Carlson. From his childhood, Randy’s life was marked by kindness, love, and deep resolve. By age 20, he
had beaten Hodgkin’s Disease. By age 24, he had graduated from Ozark Christian College and began a
life of ministry. That same year, he married Donna (Whitman) Carlson, and together they raised four
beautiful children: Jessica, Drue, Nathan, and Travis. They went on to pastor five congregations across
Illinois, Oklahoma, and Missouri, to launch four businesses in the Lee’s Summit area, and to give
themselves to their community.
Randy was a man of rare joy, conviction, and faith. In his youth he expressed it from the pulpit, declaring
the goodness of God with a crisp high tenor and a twelve-string guitar in hand. Later in life, as his tenor
moved toward baritone, he expressed himself more subtly, through his reassuring presence, wise
counsel, and quick generosity. In March, Randy began another fight with cancer. He faced it with his
characteristic faith, but after weeks of fighting, he was eager to move on. Donna remains to celebrate
his life, along with their children, their ten grandchildren, and a host of extended family. A funeral
service will be held at 4pm on Friday, April 19th, 2019 at Langsford Funeral Home in Lee’s Summit. In lieu
of flowers, please donate to North Burma Christian Mission in memory of
Randy: www.gofundme.com/RandyCarlson

Condolences

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

It is heartbreaking to lose a loved one to death. Soon God’s perfect government will rule over mankind (Matthew 6:10) Those in the memorial tombs will be resurrected (John 5:28,29) and death will be no more (Revelation 21:4) We will live forever here on earth in abundance of peace (Psalm 37:11,29) May these spiritual thought give you inner peace and strength to cope with the days ahead

We are very sorry for the loss of Randy. We know he will be missed by so many.
David and Vickie Irwin
West Monroe LA

We are so very sorry for your loss. God bless all of you as you mourn but know that we will all be together again someday.

Praying happy memories can be a comfort at this time of grief. Never saw Randy without a smile. He was truly a joy. Good memories of CIY. We called each other “Wiley Wabbits”. Don’t remember why but the name stuck. Even the last time I saw him a couple years ago. We feel blessed to have known him. Praying for you and your family.

My Tribute to my Dear Brother, Randy Carlson – by Rick Hewes
Dear Randy… you rascal, you beat us to the finish line! Congratulations & Good for you!!
REMEMBER WHEN!? We used to hang out having so much fun together, riding on the train tracks behind our house in that old car of yours, honking at people with my air horn hidden beside the road making them think a train was coming and watching them slam on their brakes!
And, of course, I remember your golden voice as you played your guitar and sang during those CIY days…and that wide glowing smile of yours which said it all – your joy in the Lord was glaringly obvious…thanx buddy, for sharing that with all of us and all who knew you!
I remember back in our Bible College days at Ozark, when you were first diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease…your conventional doctors gave you the ‘bad news’, saying that, due to the nature of that type of cancer, that they didn’t ‘see a day in your future’ (their words)…basically declaring that you’d be gone in just a few months…but you declared war on that cancerous demon at that time by making the radical decision to NOT continue on with the standard, conventional treatments for cancer, but instead you opted for a much more natural approach to healing – Remember Dr. Lawicka, that old German doctor who’d examine you by studying your hands, Vitamin B-17 (apricot pit extract), drinking carrot juice out the wahzoo until you turned a light shade of orange…YIKES!
I felt so fortunate to share those times as you declared your determination with all the thousands of folks praying for you, to beat your hodgkins disease…mainly so that you could eventually have a wife and children. I’d say that was your number one motivation. And by God’s grace, HE allowed you to beat it.
When Dr Lawicka began treating you, he wasn’t so concerned with killing the deadly cancer-growing cells in your body because he knew that he could easily do that, but he was most focused on restoring one of your lungs that your Chemo treatments had nearly destroyed…so that you could continue to sing. And he, with God’s help, did exactly that! Praise God, buddy, your decision was a risky but very wise one!!
And how can we ever forget, you were there for Becky and I, on our wedding day, May 26th, 1973, you were our getaway driver outside Fairview Christian Church in Carthage, to drive us over to Joplin so that we could make our escape. Thanx dear friend, in spite of your health challenges, you were always there for us, for me.
And remember how you used to always come over to the house to visit us there on Zora St. in Joplin. Looking back, I think part of your visitation mission was to look at the menu that Becky posted on the fridge showing what night she was planning to serve rice dressing – yummy – because you magically always showed up just about dinner time on that night, with that big heart-winning grin, asking, “Was this the night I was supposed to come over for dinner!?” “Yes, Randy, come on in, we’re definitely having Rice Dressing tonight!” What followed was an evening of sheer delight as we’d laugh together, pray together, plan his next steps regarding his hodgkins disease, etc. And, of course, we later got to hear about this cute, shy blonde girl named Donna…who had captured his heart. We got to hear about all the creative and fun things he would be planning for their next date. Yeah, buddy, she captured your heart alright and gave you the strongest reason to keep on living! Hallelujah!
I remember getting to visit you and your precious family years later! There in Lee’s Summit, visiting your church, letting our kids hang out together. Even to this day, Karista, our oldest daughter, fondly remembers being with your children. They, no doubt, made quite an impression on her – thanx for sharing your precious family with us…we’ve been so blessed!
Well, so many years have gone by since those memorable days and now, it clearly appears that you’ve beaten cancer again – oh sure, it may have ravaged your physical body, but you, once again, laughed in its face, by moving forward, into your eternal home. Oh, you bet, there’s going to be tremendous sadness as we miss all that you’ve been to us because Jesus lived mightily in you…but with the sadness is tremendous joy and peace in knowing that our awesome heavenly DAD has given you ‘high fives’ in His eternal realm for fighting the good fight. He has graciously laid you to rest and promised you on-going existence with HIM and His forever family…I’m probably just one of thousands who can’t wait to see you and be with you again in eternity. We still love you and your awesome family…save us a place next to your mansion, if Jesus will allow it…maybe there will be railroad tracks behind your house and ours…and we’ll ride those rails again…thanx, dear brother, for everything that flowed out of you by God’s grace to bless us and so many others!!
All our love, fueled by our heavenly DAD’s LOVE!
Rick, Becky, Karista Hewes,
Tiffani Nelson, and Lendsey Miller

Deepest sympathy for your loss. I know he has a special place in Heaven sharing love, joy and a level of organization that all of God’s people will love just as we have loved him.

Dear Carlson family,
We grieve with all of you in our loss of Randy. You (Randy and Donna) welcomed us generously to Lees Summit years ago and were always there to lend us a helping hand. What a Godly legacy Randy leaves. We can all rejoice in the gift that he was to us. Valerie and I look forward to the Lord’s and Randy’s warm welcome when we arrive at HOME.

With much love and affection,
George and Valerie LeBeau

Our deepest and heartfelt condolences with prayers and love to the family.

We are so sorry for your loss but celebrate his unity with the Father. Bless your family. We pray for Holy Spirit to surround you and your loved ones.

We are so sorry for the loss of this precious man! So glad to be able to rest in the knowledge you will see him again!
We will be praying for the fam

Oh, no! I’m so sorry to hear of Randy’s passing. I know him from the infamous KCF ministry days. He seemed to always be upbeat and into doing the Lord’s work.
Blessings & peace to all his family & friends still on this side of heaven.

Randy: Today is Good Friday. Today I go to Kansas City for the funeral of a dear friend. More than that, my pastor, the man who disciple me and the man that married my wife and I. Today is also Good Friday, the day our Lord and Savior provided for our salvation so we may be with Him forever. 30 years ago today on Good Friday you asked to have lunch with me. We were living in Lee’s Summit and attending a small church you pastored. That year Good Friday was in March, not April, but it was 30 years ago, this Good Friday. At lunch we shared life, dreamed what God might do in our lives and prayed for each other. You drove me home that day. As we approached our street, we saw fire trucks. As we rounded the corner, we saw 7 or 8 fire trucks lining my street. The center of attention was the duplex Tonya and I lived at. It had been pretty much devastated by a fire. As the wind blew the fire to other duplexes, more fire trucks were called in. Outside was my wife and our 2 week old first born. You and Donna helped us through that, loved us and provided for us. As you always said, “don’t let what we don’t understand cancel what you do know”. You taught us that God is good and His Word is true and you showed us love by action not just words.

Sunday is Easter Sunday, where we remember that Jesus has risen as first fruits to the Father. There is new life. There is resurrection. God will help Donna and your kids move on. We will see you again and we will rejoice together. But, no offense dear friend, but we will see Jesus that day and He will be the source of all our joy and peace. May He be joy and peace to your family and friends till we see each other again.

We first met Donna and Randy at Church of the Resurrection. We were in a small group with them. We had many meaningful discussions and prayer times, as well as traveling for a weekend, as a group, to Clear Lake, Iowa. I have always marveled at the love that the two of them shared. There was nothing that we couldn’t discuss with either one of them, and every time we saw Randy at church, he would always flash that genuine smile of his our way. The first thing he would always start with was how proud they were of their children and grandchildren. How blessed we were to have Randy in our lives.

How do you summarize the profound impact that a life submitted and committed to God has on the world around them? It would be impossible to capture with words the impact Randy & Donna Carlson have had on the Keith & Tonya Brown family. I cherish the memories of learning and growing in the knowledge of God under their tutelage; we had many adventurous years running after God together. I not only grew in the things of God through their influence, but I learned how to love my husband and my children well and how to prioritize what really matters in this life. I will forever be grateful for the seeds they have sown in us; those seeds continue to bear much fruit. Through the easy times and the hard times of life, the Lord has brought back to remembrance words of wisdom shared by this dynamic duo. Donna, we love you dearly and will continue to pray for you and your beautiful family in this season of loss. I know Randy is worshiping like never before and I’m grateful to know we’ll meet again.
❤️ Tonya Brown

Dear Carlson Family,

We are so sorry to hear about Randy’s passing. You are all in our thoughts and prayers. He is in God’s presence❤️

With our deepest Sympathy

Amarilis & Bryan

We were so sorry to hear of Randy’s passing. We will keep you in our prayers.

Visitation

Friday, April 19, 2019
Following service
Langsford Funeral Home
115 SW 3rd St
Lee’s Summit, MO 64063

Services

Friday, April 19, 2019
4:00 PM
Langsford Funeral Home
115 SW 3rd St
Lee’s Summit, MO 64063