Last Sunday (July 5, 2020), the community lost a great man and leader. Bobby Randolph passed away at the age of 77.

He was born February 14, 1943, in Monterey, Tennessee, to the late James and Ruth Beene Randolph. He was a graduate of Monterey High School. Bobby’s first job was with the Monterey Shirt Factory making boxes.

He began his career at Volunteer Electric Cooperative (VEC) in 1968 as an apprentice lineman in the Monterrey Service Area. Prior to VEC, he worked as an Operator Agent Clerk for the Railroad in Crossville.

As a VEC lineman, he had to furnish his own equipment, had to climb poles as there were very few bucket trucks, and dug power pole holes manually or by using an A-Frame device. Bobby stated bucket trucks and digger derrick trucks improved efficiency and safety more than almost any other single item for linemen.

In 1972 Bobby left VEC and went to work for Job Training and Safety Program of Tennessee (JT&S).

After three years with JT&S, Bobby went to work with a consulting firm doing safety consultation with American Public Power.

In 1976 Bobby returned to VEC as the District Manager for the Monterrey Area and just four years later, in 1980, began the role he held until 2020 as the Area Manager

for the Crossville service area. Bobby was the 3rd person in this role since VEC bought the service area from the Tennessee Power Company; beginning with Fleming Hudsel, then Lyle Williams, then Bobby.

His longevity gave Bobby perspective few can match. When he began his current role there were approximately 10,000 meters in his service area and now there are more than 32,000. In the 1980’s there were only three substation needed in the area, now there are 9 serving the growth in homes and businesses. The need for more power was driven by the increase in electronics in the home. With the availability of reliable power, more homes began to rely on electrically based devices like water heaters, heating and air units, televisions, and so much more.

Bobby was very active in his communities. Here are some of the many seats he held:

• Chairman of the Volunteer Behavioral Health Care Systems
• Chairman of the Cumberland County Housing Authority
• Member of the board of One Bank of Tennessee since 1987
• Member of the Joint Economic Development Board
• Member of the Cumberland County Industrial Board
• Vice-chairman of the Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce
• Mayor of Monterey, Tennessee for two terms
• Cumberland county Commissioner for two terms
• Putnam County Commissioner for one term

Bobby enjoyed playing golf, swimming and traveling. he was of the Methodist faith and was a stout Democrat but would support a Republican from time to time. Two of his favorite sayings were, “don’t worry about the mule, load the wagon,” and “love you like a brother.” Bobby possessed a passion for providing excellent service to his members and to assisting in the communities he served.

One of the joys of his job is the quality of the people he works with. Being able to hire qualified employees who are committed keeps experience in house and creates a great working environment all the way around. “It’s a team effort and we have a great team,” stated Bobby.

Along with a historical perspective, Bobby experienced exciting times while working for VEC. In 1985 an ice storm hit his service area that had 6,000 members out for 4-6 days.

In 1990 a summer hail storm created a longer outage than any previous two disasters due to the damage from straight line winds. Almost 15,000 members were without power in that area for more than five days. In 1993 a historic blizzard hit Tennessee with more than 20 inches of snow which had power out across the southern end of the service area. But the most catastrophic event to hit the Crossville Service Area was the ice storm in February 2015. With 100% member outage across four counties, it took many volunteers from other power companies along with all VEC workers to get everyone possible back up within two weeks. VEC continued to do repairs on the system including replacing temporary fixes from this historic storm through the fall of 2015. Bobby stated that ice storm was a once in a career event.

Bobby G. Randolph worked for VEC and for the Crossville Service area for over 40 years all together.

He is survived by his wife: Sue Kim Randolph; son and daughter-in-law: Jerry and Rachael Randolph of Crossville; stepson: Sai Cope of Crossville; grandchildren: Ashley Randolph and fiancé Charles Jamison, Macey (Zach) Dilldine, Taylor Randolph (Jamie), Hunter (Hanah) Randolph, and John Looney; great-granddaughter: Lily Dilldine; sisters and a brother-in-law: Molly and Dale Myers of Monterey and Jimmie Mae Brass of Crossville; brother: Clay Randolph of Rickman, Tennessee; sister-in-law: Delma Randolph Of Monterey; and a host of nieces and nephews, cousins, friends, and his Sunday morning golf group. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son: Rodney Randolph; great-grandson: Grayson Lee Randolph; brothers and sisters: James Walter Randolph, Deane Thompson, Helen Randolph, Bill Randolph, Cleve Eugene Randolph, Sam Ray Randolph, Jimmy Frank Randolph, and Beverly Lee Randolph.

His wishes of cremation with private services are being honored. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial donations be given in his memory to www.vbhcs.org/.donate