Randy Miles Atkinson, of West Chester PA, passed away peacefully on June 22, 2022 at his home surrounded by the love of family and friends.
He was the husband of Frances Grace Atkinson. Born on March 1, 1952, in San Diego CA, he was the son of the late Paul I. Atkinson and the late Kathleen Lively Atkinson. He had one brother, the late Terry Allen Atkinson.
The Atkinson family moved to Worcester PA, due to his father’s job relocation. A circuitous educational journey eventually led to a BS from Edison State College. He was a completely self-taught master carpenter, plumber, and electrician; a number of years at Honeywell led to additional expertise in HVAC systems. Randy later worked in the commercial construction industry and managed large projects including hospitals, office buildings, factories, etc. in the region. He retired from Veritas Medical Solutions which builds radiation treatment rooms domestically and internationally.
Randy’s long and heroic battle with throat cancer included radiation treatment at Penn Medicine in Valley Forge where he found his business card on a ledge in the treatment room he had built! (They had not dusted in a while.) This cracked him up and he pointed it out to the techs and left it there. It was still there when he returned the following year.
Randy volunteered for Habitat for Humanity with the Westminster Presbyterian Church team enjoying the opportunity to use his skills with this outstanding organization. He helped family, friends, friends of friends, neighbors and anyone who asked him to build things, fix things or give advice on how to build and fix things. He got great satisfaction out of using his skills whenever he could. This continued until one week before he died.
Randy is survived by his wife Fran, daughter Nicole, son in law Joe and baby granddaughter Ella Rose. He willed himself to survive long enough to meet her. They all loved him very much and will miss his loving presence in their lives. He helped them most of all in ways too numerous to count.
Services and interment will be at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 10 West Pleasant Grove Road, West Chester, PA 19382 on Wednesday July 13, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Habitat for Humanity of Chester County at hfhcc.org
Arrangements by DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home of West Chester, PA 610.696.1181 DellaFH.com