CHARLESTON — Randal “Randy” Leon Malone, 89, of Charleston, Ill., passed away at 12:57 p.m. on October 27, 2020, in Mattoon, Ill.

Services will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 2, 2020, at Calvert Funeral Home, Clinton.  Burial with military rites will follow at Evergreen Cemetery, Waynesville.  Visitation will be held from 10–11 a.m. on Monday at the funeral home.  Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the family requests social distancing and the wearing of face masks at the visitation and services.

Born to William and Violet Malone on September 2, 1931, as Randal Leon Malone, he was known by most folks as “Randy.”  He attended the Prairie Creek, Ind.School System, and later went to and graduated from Rose Polytechnic Institute with a degree in Civil Engineering.

He served in the U.S. Army from January 1955 to December 1957.

He was a Civil Engineer, designing and overseeing the construction of roads, bridges and highways for most of his adult working life, working first for the Illinois Department of Transportation and then as the Superintendent of Highways for DeWitt County, and later for Coles County.

During his stint working for IDOT, he met Adale Everetta Hope LaDew in a Wapella tavern.  They hit it off pretty well, and soon after he decided she was “the one.” He proposed, and she eventually accepted.  They were married on April 30, 1960, and remained happily so, until “Evie’s” death in 2009.

Randy was also preceded in death by his father and mother, and stepfather, Ira Riggs. 

He is survived by his sisters, Freda (Dick) Stueland of Rogers, Ark.and Jeanne Hopkins of Joplin, Mo., by his daughter Linda of Belleville, Ill.; sons, Neal (Stacey), of Springfield, and Ben (Sheri), of Lugoff, S.C., and his grandchildren Erin, Brian, Emily, Brady, Myles, and Elaina, step-grandchildren Mallory, Matt, and Mitchell and five step-great-grandchildren.

Outside of work, Randy’s main activities were time with family and Bridge-playing friends.  For years he sent out letters encouraging family members to attend the Thornberry reunion.  He worked hard to keep in contact with them and all his family.  Every Sunday, there was a series of family phone calls that he made.  His favorite hobby was playing Bridge, which he did in Paris, Clinton, Effingham, Charleston, and O’Fallon, Ill.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Heart Association or PBS TV station WILL, in Urbana.

Randal’s family would like to hold another memorial “service” in the Charleston area in the near future (hopefully, when this Covid mess cools down).  Any who are interested in participating in this event are asked to send a message to RLMalone1931@gmail.com, so you can be contacted with further information when this date has been set.

Online condolences may be made at www.calvertmemorial.com