Chief Chief Russell J. Randolph of the Trailer Estates Fire Control District in Bradenton, Florida, has passed away, according to reports.
His obituary indicated that Russell was chief of the Trailer Estate Fire Department when he became ill this past July. He passed from this earth at 8:07 p.m. on Friday, October 14, 2016 at the age of 55.
Chief Randolph began his firefighting career with the Manhasset-Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Company 3 on Long Island, New York, in 1979. In 1984, he moved to Bradenton to work as a dispatcher in the Manatee County Department of Public Safety. He also joined the Braden River Volunteer Fire Department (East Manatee Fire Rescue). He was promoted to lieutenant in 1985 and made a Life Member in 1990. He was hired as a full-time firefighter in 1990 with the Southern Manatee Fire Rescue District and worked on B Shift until he retired in 2001. Chief Randolph was a forensic photographer with the Manatee County Arson Task Force from 1985 to 1991. In 2011, he joined the volunteer fire department in Trailer Estates and became the chief in 2015. He was a member of the Manatee County Medical Reserve Corp, Suncoast FOOLS, Manatee County Fire Chiefs Association, International Association of Fire Chiefs, Manhasset-Lakeville Firefighters Benevolent Association, and the East Manatee Firefighters Benevolent Association.
Chief Randolph is survived by his sister, Cynthia McMillian of North Carolina, aunt and cousins in Virginia and New York, and he leaves behind a large family of firefighters from Ohio and New York to Florida
Chief Randolph’s viewing will be held on Saturday, October 22nd from 1:00 – 3:00 p.m. with an active duty Firefighter’s Funeral Service at 3:00 p.m.at the Trailer Estates Recreation Center, Bradenton, Florida.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in his honor to the National Kidney Foundation.
The Kidney Foundation
30 East 33rd Street, New York NY 10016
Tel: 1-800-622-9010
Web: https://www.kidney.org
HT Billy Goldfeder, FirefighterCloseCalls.com.
