Velma Anderson-Randle

Velma Lue Anderson-Randle, known to all who loved her as “Randi” or “Sister,” passed away on May 7, 2026, in Los Angeles, California, after a long and valiant battle with cancer. She was 73 years old.

Randi was born on August 14, 1952, in Colt, Arkansas, to Joanna and Leo Anderson. She was the eighth of 11 children — a large, close-knit family that she carried in her heart every day of her life. She grew up on the family farm and attended Lincoln High School, where she was part of the last graduating class before its integration. The following September, when Lincoln reopened as an integrated school, Randi was on her way to the next chapter.

A trailblazer in her family, Randi was the first to pursue higher education. Her path to college was itself a testament to the forces that shaped her: a community activist known as Reverend Cooley identified a group of college-ready graduates from families who couldn’t afford tuition, secured grant funding, and sent them off. Randi was among them. She began at Shorter Junior College (now Shorter College) in North Little Rock, Arkansas, then transferred to Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education. She went on to earn Master’s degrees in Education, Special Education, and Educational Administration from the University of Mississippi and San Francisco State University.

For more than 40 years, Randi dedicated herself to teaching and worked with children with special needs, incarcerated youth, troubled youth, and the developmentally disabled. A proud and active member of the California Teachers Association, she retired in 2021.

Randi’s only child, her daughter named Asheley (Dean), was born in Memphis in 1981. In 1993, the two of them set out on an adventure that Asheley counts among her most cherished memories: they packed their Mercedes-Benz 190E, loaded up a cooler Randi had stocked with home-cooked food for the road, and drove west toward a new life in the San Francisco Bay Area. They stopped in Amarillo, Texas along the way — a detour both mother and daughter remembered fondly for the warmth of the people they met.

Petite at 4’11” but mighty, Randi was not a woman to be underestimated. She lived with chronic asthma her entire life and refused to let it slow her down. She was stubborn in the best way — private, proud, and resolute. When Randi set her sights on something, it happened. She fulfilled her dream of moving to Los Angeles. She traveled the world. She did things her way.

She took great pride in her appearance. She cared deeply about the natural world — conserving water, nurturing plants, turning off lights — and had a true green thumb. Her daughter-in-law Kirstin remembers fondly the afternoons the two of them spent together repotting, propagating, and saving plants, a shared passion Randi passed on with quiet joy.

A devout Catholic, Randi’s faith was a sustaining presence throughout her life. She attended Mass nearly every Sunday, drawing strength from her spirituality even through the hardest seasons. Full of vigor and optimism, she held on to hope when life tried to take it from her.

Randi gave generously of her time and talents to the communities she called home. A proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she carried the organization’s legacy of service throughout her life. She served as an officer of the San Mateo Branch of the NAACP, and as President of St. Vincent de Paul of San Mateo County, where she worked to serve those most in need. A patron of the arts, she was a devoted supporter of local community theater and served on the board of Dragon Productions Theatre Company, championing the power of storytelling on stage just as she championed it in life.

Randi was a woman who moved through the world — literally. She was an avid traveler who journeyed to Japan, across North America, and throughout Europe. One trip she returned to again and again in conversation was a whirlwind 13-day European tour she took with Asheley to celebrate her daughter graduating law school. The two of them traveled alongside a group of Australians and New Zealanders, many of whom Randi stayed in touch with for years afterward. That was Randi: she walked into a room of strangers and left with friends.

She was a film lover who made it her personal mission to watch every Oscar-nominated film each year. She was a devoted Words with Friends player and a trivia enthusiast who loved a good challenge. Shopping, especially thrift shopping and hunting for treasures at what she affectionately called her “specialty shops,” was one of life’s great pleasures for her.

Randi told riveting stories. She had a gift for drawing people in and holding a room. On any given day, she might spend hours on the phone with family and friends near and far. She came from a big family and she never let that connection fade.

Above all, Randi was a mother. As a single mother, her daughter Asheley and her grandchildren Joanna and Georgia were her greatest source of pride and her deepest love.

Randi is preceded in death by her mother Joanna and father Leo Anderson; her sisters Della Newborn, Betty Bolden, India Lagrone, and Selma Petterson; and her brothers Aaron Anderson, Charles Anderson, and Claude Boyd.

She is survived by her daughter Asheley Dean (Kirstin Heinle); granddaughters Joanna and Georgia Dean-Heinle; and her beloved siblings Otha Anderson (Ruby), Ocie Rivers, Jesse Anderson (Evelyn), A.C. Anderson (Loretta), Leola Marie Lucas (Leamon), John Anderson, and Jennette Lanos (Ivory) and dozens of nieces, nephews and cousins.

In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests donations be made to the American Lung Association in Randi's memory. Donations may be made online at American Lung Association.