Randall “Randy” Ray Seeley, age 72, of Charlotte, North Carolina, passed away on Wednesday, July 21, 2021.
Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 31, 2021, at the Community Church at Lake Wylie, 104 Hamilton’s Ferry Road, Lake Wylie, SC, with the Rev. Bob Jack officiating. The family will receive friends one hour before the service.
Randy was born on November 6, 1948, in St. Louis, Missouri, to the late Norval Ray and Betty Jean McNail Seeley. As an athlete in high school, he played both football and basketball. He attended Drury College, majoring in business and economics. He met his wife, Deborah, at Drury and they married after graduation in 1970. He entered the USAF in August 1970 and went to pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base. He then served as a T-37 instructor and flew C-130s.
In 1976, he began his business career in the corrugated paper industry, working in sales and management until retirement. After retiring, he stayed in Charlotte to be near his two daughters, their husbands, and his six grandchildren.
Randy was an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, a proud American, a golf enthusiast, and a devoted family man. He loved spending time with his family and friends on the lake, and is credited with having taught dozens of people how to water ski. He was an exceptional grandfather who attended countless dance recitals, school plays, and basketball games to support his grandchildren. He was warm, generous, and kind. Anyone who was fortunate enough to know him was blessed.
He is survived by his wife of 51 years, Deborah Nowotny Seeley; daughters, Laura Self and husband Chris, Lake Wylie, SC, and Jessica Salas and husband Martin, York, SC; grandchildren, Hannah and Nathan Self and Gabriela, Natalia, Catalina, and Alejandra Salas; and sister, Suzanne Wakefield, St. Louis MO.
The family would like to thank all the first responders in Mecklenburg and York Counties.
The family is requesting memorials be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675 (www.woundedwarriorproject.org), or the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (www.JDRF.org).
All are invited to a celebratory reception at the River Hills Country Club.
Online condolences may be made at www.mlfordsons.com.
M. L. Ford & Sons Funeral Home, Lake Wylie, SC, is serving the family of Mr. Seeley.
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