Honoring Randy Petersen: A Legacy of Service and Love

We are starting this GoFundMe for our mother, Sheri. Our dad, Randy, was the heart and provider of our family, and as we navigate his sudden passing, we want to ensure our mom is supported in the way he always made sure everyone else was.

The Unexpected Incident

A week ago, Randy suffered an unexpected incident while working. While stopped at a red light in his work truck, he was found unresponsive. We are eternally grateful to the heroic bystander who realized there was an emergency, broke our dad out of his truck, and started CPR immediately—giving us the precious gift of more time to say goodbye.

While the doctors were able to bring back a pulse, an MRI later confirmed that his brain had been without oxygen for too long. The doctors did extensive checks to try to determine what caused the cardiac arrest, but his arteries were clean, his heart was healthy, no clots were found, and no infections were present. His heart simply got out of rhythm and got into V-Fib.

We truly believe God called him home to heaven on Tuesday afternoon, but that our dad asked for the chance to come back—even in his limited state—just long enough for us to say goodbye and for his son and daughter-in-law to fly home to see him one last time.

A Life Lived for Others

Everyone who knows Randy knows he was the most charitable, loving guy in the world. He worked full-time for West Valley City and took immense pride in his work and the relationships he made there. Whether it was his neighbors in South Jordan, or his church Ward, or his many friends; he lived to make people smile and rarely did anything for himself.

Even in his final moments, he continued to give. As a lifelong organ donor, he was able to donate his liver for scientific research and both of his kidneys to save two different people's lives. Even in death, he is still finding ways to save others.

Building a Dream for Sheri

After 64 years of putting others first, the first thing Dad finally decided to do for himself was remodel their home. He was so excited to be the General Contractor (GC) of the project and worked tirelessly on it this past year. He and Mom decided to build their dream home on top of their "forever home" by adding 20+ feet onto the back. While the work was long and tiring, it was a true symbol of our dad’s life of hard work and dedication.

Unfortunately, the project remains unfinished. As his children, we want nothing more than to do everything in our power to see his vision through and ensure our mom can stay in the home they built together.

How Your Support Helps

Our parents are humble and would never ask for this themselves, but the financial burden ahead is significant. Your donations will go directly toward:

Share a Memory & Spread the Word

If you are unable to help financially, we would cherish your stories. If you knew Randy and have memories with him, we would love to see those. It means so much to us that so many people cared about our dad like we did.

Please consider sharing this page on social media. Every share helps more people have the chance to support our mom and celebrate the incredible man our dad was. If you would like to donate via Venmo, please send all donations to @Sheri-Petersen-2 (the profile photo will be our mom and dad at Disneyland).

Thank you for your love, prayers, and support during this devastating time.