S. Richard Rand, a retired Foreign Service officer who served as consul general to Bermuda and Bangkok, passed peacefully on Sept. 30, 2016, in Fernandina Beach.
Mr. Rand retired in 1988 after 27 years in the Foreign Service. He was born in Hartford, Conn., on May 24, 1929, attended Syracuse University and graduated from the University of Miami School of Law. He was a Sloan Fellow graduate of the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Mr. Rand joined the Department of State as an attorney adviser in 1962 and was awarded the department's Distinguished Service Award in 1964. Mr. Rand’s Foreign Service career included postings in Marseille and Paris, France; Vientiane, Laos; Bern, Switzerland; Bermuda; and Bangkok. While in Laos, during the height of the Vietnam War, he served as the U.S. government's principal coordinator for POW/MIA affairs for Southeast Asia. In Switzerland and Thailand, he served as principal negotiator of two bilateral treaties related to judicial assistance.
In retirement, Mr. Rand maintained a principal residence in Washington, D.C., and a summer home in Ophelia, Va., where he was an avid recreational fisherman. He was an excellent cook and loved preparing gourmet meals for family and friends. He provided joyous delight to his granddaughters by hand-creating elaborate holiday and birthday cards over the years.
He and his surviving wife of 65 years, June Sagan Rand, first met in seventh grade in Wethersfield, Conn.
He is also survived by his brother, Joseph Randazzo of Fernandina Beach; three children, Steven Mark Randazzo (Yeshica Weerasekera) of San Francisco, Lisa Marie Peat (David Peat) of Fernandina Beach and S. Richard Rand Jr. (Kelly Pask) of Los Angeles; four granddaughters, Devin Peat Martin, Taylor Peat Sapp, Samudra Randazzo and Charlotte Rand; and six great-grandchildren; Madison Martin, Brady Martin, Sarah Sapp, Chris Sapp Jr., Samantha Sapp and Sydney Sapp.
Memorial services will be held at a later date.
Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors