Randy and I both started at the Lovett School in the summer of 1998 and we worked closely together until I retired in June of 2014. Randy was an absolutely superb teacher, clearly one of the best I ever encountered in over forty years in education. Her love of teaching was palpable, and her dedication to her students unparalleled. (I really appreciated Randy’s sense of humor and would like to think she would get a laugh out of this history teacher’s feeble effort to use a mathematical term in this context.)

She also was an excellent department head, who was as dedicated to her colleagues as she was to her students. I learned a lot from Randy about how a department head should mentor young teachers.

Randy had many personal qualities that I admired. One that immediately comes to mind is her integrity, both personally and professionally.   Randy always struck me as being completely honest and trustworthy.

I also very much appreciated and admired her enthusiasm for life. I’m sure she had moments when she was down, as we all do, but I never saw Randy act as if she were defeated by life. On the contrary, she seemed to find enjoyment and even draw energy from a variety of simple things, like gardening, her spinning class, or taking a walk in the countryside.

Chris and I have many happy memories of time we spent with Randy and Bob, including visiting them at their log cabin in the Georgia mountains, going to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, and touring Hildene in Manchester, VT.   These are memories that we always will cherish.  We send our sincere condolences to Bob, Amy and all members of Randy’s family.

I consider myself so fortunate— truly blessed— to have had the privilege of working with your Mother. Please know that my wife Penny ( who also thought so very highly of Randy!!) and I continue to have you and your family on our minds and hearts on the heels of her passing.

Here is what I learned from Randy:

1. The quintessential importance of character and integrity— of being thoroughly honest with oneself and with others; your Mom — as a teacher, school leader, Honor Council Advisor, ALWAYS upheld those timeless principles of honesty and fairness so essential to any healthy community!

2. Randy was steadfastly committed to excellence— to doings right!— as a teacher, advisor, and administrator! Her unwavering commitment to excellence served to inspire her colleagues ( including the Head of School!) and her students to reach higher in our own aspirations to improve and to grow.

3. Her ATTENTION TO DETAIL and her ORGANIZATIONAL GIFTS were superb and incredibly helpful to me as the Head of School as well as to other colleagues with whom she worked! These qualities — plus her devotion to excellence— led to the significant strengthening of our Math Department ( which she chaired for many years), to major improvements to other academic programs, and to a much improved and more transparent faculty compensation system. As our Academic Dean, her work on compensation was critical to our ability to develop a new system that garnered significant support from Lovett’s faculty.

4. Randy embraced a very thoughtful and nuanced model for evaluating programs and deciding whether and how they might be improved. Yes, she would be sure to use lots of appropriate data but her analysis of data was always complimented by careful consideration of important qualitative concerns like mission, community and school culture. Her decision making process resulted in recommendations and decisions that consistently enhanced our school.

5. Her overarching concern always was our students’ wellbeing!

Amy, because of my time with your Mom. I know I am a better teacher and school leader than I would otherwise be!

It is an honor to weigh in about Randy!

Billy Peebles

Head of School

The Lovett School

2003-2018