My Uncle Randy passed away

He had a severe physical disability from birth, but he lived a life full of purpose and meaning

With great sadness, we must announce the passing of Jon Randall “Randy” Townsley, beloved son, brother, and uncle. Randy died at hospice in the early hours of June 13 with his mother by his side.

Randy’s parents, Alice and the late Jim Townsley, were by his side throughout his entire life, from the moment he was born in Tuscon General Hospital on January 30, 1957. Diagnosed with spastic quadriplegia from congenital cerebral palsy, Randy wasn’t supposed to live very long. But he did.

Owing to his parents’ advocacy and care and his own attitude of positivity and determination, Randy lived an accomplished and full 65 years. Randy grew up in Inglewood, California, and graduated from Aviation High School in Redondo Beach. He was a lifelong learner who taught himself to speed read and play chess. Though he earned an associate degree in Political Science from El Camino Community College, he took classes there for nearly 20 years, just because he enjoyed it.

While at El Camino, Randy advocated for disabled students, hoping to increase representation of the disabled. He organized a campus wheelchair race between faculty and wheelchair-bound students, which was attended by an L.A. County Commissioner. The Torrance Daily Breeze covered the event. Randy took great pleasure in reminding everyone that the disabled students won.

Despite considerable motor limitations, Randy spent much of his life with the ability to walk. He was surely a fixture on campus at El Camino, pulling his briefcase-on-wheels of textbooks from class to class. He participated in Special Olympics, he swam, he golfed, and one of his favorite stories was about an indelicate softball injury he suffered at the hands—or rather, the line drive—of a friend. Randy also took great joy in attending summer camps for the disabled: notably Camp Joan Mier near Malibu, Easter Seal Camp in Vanderwagen, New Mexico, and Camp Easterseals in Virginia.

Thanks to his brother Kevin marrying an Irish lass, Randy had the opportunity to travel to England and Northern Ireland with his family. With his parents, he lived in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and finally North Carolina. Alongside his parents, Randy visited extended family in Alaska and traveled to Chicago, Tennessee, New York, and Washington, DC. His ability to travel was certainly made possible in part by the public accommodations put forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act, for which Randy was an advocate.

Randy made golf clubs and collected bolo ties. He told terrible jokes, so bad they were funny. He cried immoderately at sad movies. Wherever he lived, his room was filled with books—even after he lost the ability to hold a book. Near the end of his life, he spent hours playing an aviation computer game, which he could operate with just the touch of a finger. He was a lifelong active member of the Church of Christ and a Bible scholar who enjoyed teaching kids at his church.

Randy is preceded in death by his dad, Jim, who passed away in March 2021, just moments after giving Randy his medicine and kissing him goodnight. Randy is survived by his mom, Alice; his little brother, Kevin, and sister-in-law, Sharon; his niece and nephew, Erin and Kyle; and his great-nephews and -nieces: Ethan, Oliver, Evie, Harry, and Marybelle.

Randy lived decades longer than doctors predicted. It still wasn’t long enough for his family.