Driver Lifestyles

In Memoriam: Arlin R. "Randy" King, Sr. - Expediter

Expediting has lost one of its own.

Arlin R. "Randy" King, Sr., age 61, of Langston, MI, passed away Thursday, March 3, 2005 at Spectrum Health-Butterworth Hospital, Grand Rapids, after a sudden heart attack. 

The son of Arvin W. & Audrey C. (McQuay) King, he was born on May 13, 1943 in Greenville, MI.  He was a 1961 graduate of Greenville High School and on Dec. 4, 1961, in Grand Rapids, he married the former JoAnne K. Hooker.

Surviving are his wife, JoAnne King;  their three children, Chief Petty Officer Arlin  Jr. & Miriam King, with the U.S. Navy in Norfolk, Virginia, Lisa & Rob Gates of Greenville, and Jodi & Chris Reynolds of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania;  his parents, Arvin & Audrey King of Greenville;  six grandchildren, K.D., A.J., J.P., and K.C. King, all of Norfolk, Virginia, and Chris and Nikki Gates of Greenville;  a sister, Sandy Collins of Greenville and Florida; a brother and sister-in-law, Jerome & Marcia King of Greenville; and several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Randy was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served with the 101st Airborne.  Self-employed as a transportation expediter, he enjoyed computers and was very experienced in programming and C.A.D. design, in addition to being a skilled artist and craftsman.

"Trucking was a dream of his," says Randy's wife of 44 years, JoAnne, "because it was something we could do together.  It was something that would keep us only an arm's length away."

"Randy and I were best friends, we were buddies.  I'm going to miss him, but as he always said, 'I know you'll make it without me'.  I don't want to, but I will."

She continues, "He loved seeing and talking to other expediters - if we had a choice of layovers, say Chicago or Indy, and we saw that there were a bunch of people that we hadn't seen in a while in Indy, that's where we'd go!"

JoAnne gives an example of the camaraderie that she and Randy (known to many of their expediting friends as Ma & Pa) found on the road:  "One weekend in Dayton, OH, there were 18 expediters gathered at one stopping point.  They were from Con-Way NOW, Express-1, and other companies.  We took a tarp and rubber cords and stretched it out between two vans and sat there on lawn chairs, talking until 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning."

Landstar Express America recruiter Jeff Garra of Howell, MI and long time friend of the Kings says his phone was extremely busy with calls from Randy's friends and acquaintances trying to find information about his passing.

Randy and JoAnne had been with Landstar for almost two years.

Jeff remembers, "I was still new to the expediting business when I recruited Randy and JoAnne at Roberts Express back in the '80's." 

"Randy has been a friend, ally and someone who I've laughed with over the years - he'll be sadly missed.  He loved to take photos.  I have a CD of the pictures he took on his trip to Alaska just after he started with Landstar and I pulled those out today and was looking at them again.  It's funny the things you remember.  He loved photography and he loved people. He was a friend of all of ours."

Bob Worthington is a cargo van owner-operator who says, "I met Randy about eight or nine years ago, but we really developed a friendship in the last four years or so.  He, JoAnne and I spent many layover hours together at the Franklin, OH Williams truckstop."

"Randy was a great guy, very open and friendly.  There are a lot of expediters who met him for the first time when he walked up to their truck and introduced himself.  Quite often, he would tell them about his web site and ask to take their picture for the site."

Lawrence McCord, General Manager of Expediters Online.com relates, "I met Randy a number of years ago and I always enjoyed his and JoAnne's company.  He was a true expediting professional with many years of service to the industry.  Randy was always looking for opportunities to help his fellow expediter or anyone who needed assistance."

"He was a great supporter of Expediters Online.com and EO considered him a good friend.  He and JoAnne made it a point to attend every Expediting Expo.  Everyone who met Randy is going to miss him."