Rest In Peace Randy

Downeast Maine and Bucksport lost a huge advocate and I lost a friend with the passing of Randy Robinson on Tuesday night.

Randy worked for Mark Osborne and Natalie Knox selling radio for KISS and other stations. When they sold their stations, he worked for Clear Channel, and when they sold to Blueberry Broadcasting he worked for them, until he couldn't work anymore. He was always the best dressed person in the room.

Randy battled brain cancer, and as we all know cancer sucks! He battled it hard, and for a long time he was winning the battle. He and his family battled it with grace, and ferocity, and his family loved on him in his final months at home.

I used to call Randy 3 or 4 times a week. We would always tease each other. Randy never had a social media account (Facebook), but he was always up to date on what others were doing on Facebook. We would tease each other, and there was no bigger Bucksport Golden Buck fan than Randy. When his daughter posted a picture of Randy in a football uniform, I had at least 2 weeks worth of material to tease him.

I convinced his daughter, Sarah, to wear a MDI Trojans hat so I could send the picture to her Dad. I couldn't wait for his response. Seriously, I think I hit send and he was calling me, calling me all sorts of names I can't print. He couldn't believe that Sarah, who was/is the JV Girls Soccer Coach at Bucksport, would fall victim to my words. He was threatening to disown her, and at least make her shave her hair, for having it come in contact with MDI Green. To this day, this picture makes me laugh out loud, remembering his reaction.

We worked together for a couple of years, and even though we were competitors working for different media companies, the last 15 plus years, we were friends. We shared stories, commercials, dividing up work, so our mutual clients would be well served. Randy was a tireless advocate for businesses in Downeast Maine. He was one of the rare individuals who would suggest a plan that was right for the business, and not right for his paycheck.

Randy leaves behind many friends. In the past 6-8 months, everytime I would go into a business that Randy used to call on, owners would ask how he was doing, and I'd share what I could. We'd share a Randy story and a smile.

Randy also leaves behind  a family that loved on him and cared for him while he was home. He was married to Cheryl for 33 years, and they recently just celebrated their anniversary. He also leaves his twin children Paul and Sarah. Sarah was recently married to Ryan in February and Randy was so happy to be there standing for his daughter. He told us how helpful Ryan was to him.

We tried to visit Randy at home semi-regularly in the Spring. He would make us laugh, whether he was telling how Paul tied his hand to the bed, or retelling a  story we all shared. We would bring him a coffee shake. I have never seen anyone have a death grip on the coffee shake cup like Randy did, and you know he had to have had an ice cream headache as fast as he drank it! We would always leave with a smile and a tear, but telling each other that we would see each other soon.

I have no doubt we will see each other soon. In the meantime if you hear St. Peter on KISS you'll know Randy, was hard at work, selling St. Peter a radio schedule.

Rest in Peace my friend.

Randy's funeral will be held at 1PM Sunday, July 29th at the Orland Community Center