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Arnold Hazelton Rand
March 07, 2009

WINTHROP - Arnold Hazelton Rand of Winthrop and North Fort Myers, Fla., formerly of Freeport and North Bellmore, N.Y., and River Vale and Woodcliff Lake, N.J., died at MaineGeneral Rehabilitation and Nursing at Glenridge in Augusta on March 7, 2009, of complications following a brief illness.


The family would like to thank Dr. Hart and the staff at Glenridge for their extraordinarily compassionate care of Randy.


Survivors include Barbara, his wife of 63 years, and their eight children: Janet Dixon, of Hewitt, N.J., Susan Phillips, of Monmouth, Nancy Bell, of New Windsor, N.Y., Sheri Stevens, of Whitefield, Johanna Roe, of Willard, Wash., Alan Rand, of Bellvale, N.Y., James Rand, of Sussex, N.Y., and Amy Janisheski, of Hewitt; sister Evelyn Clark and brother Elliott Rand, as well as 22 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Also surviving him are nieces Meredith Clark and Cynthia Rand-Thompson; and nephews Ben Clark and Eric Ellison.


Known to his friends and family as Arny or Randy, he was born Nov. 20, 1928, in Brooklyn, N.Y., the son of Charles John Rand and Miriam Brush Rand. His family returned to Freeport, N.Y., in 1936. His family summered in Winthrop at the Sturtevant Hill home of his grandmother, Sarah Maxim Brush, and his family ties to the Winthrop area remained strong. He attended school in New York and was a graduate of Freeport High School in Freeport, N.Y. Following graduation, he entered the Army, where he was assigned to the Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth, N.J., as a telephone communications instructor. He served from October 1946 to March 1948.


He and his wife, Barbara Cummins, were married in 1946. They met at a marine-radio service where both were employed.


Randy was always fascinated with radios and other electronics. In 1948, he began work in the emerging television broadcast industry at the New York television studios of RCA's National Broadcasting Company subsidiary -- WNBC-TV/WNBT New York -- and became one of the nation's first color-television cameramen. His work enabled him to participate in every presidential convention until his retirement from NBC in 1987. Other major events that he participated in included Patricia Nixon's White House wedding, for which he was one of a hand-picked industrywide television pool chosen for technical ability and security integrity.


He rose to the position of video technical director at NBC-TV. Among his first regular assignments was the Dave Garroway show -- which pre-dated Jack Paar and "The Tonight Show" -- as well as the "NBC Nightly News with Chet Huntley and David Brinkley" and "The Kate Smith Show." On "The Kate Smith Show," he was invited to appear on stage before his own camera to announce the birth of his fourth daughter, Sheri. Other shows included "The Howdy Doody Show," Shari Lewis, and "Kukla, Fran and Ollie."


In the early years of television, shows were broadcast live in black-and-white, and Randy had many funny stories of some of the classic mistakes that occurred during the shows.


In the 1940s and 50s, he and his wife, Barbara, lived in North Bellmore, N.Y. In 1956, they purchased land on Lower Narrows Pond in Winthrop and began building their summer home there. In 1961, they moved from New York to New Jersey, living first in River Vale and then in Woodcliff Lake in Bergen County.


Randy loved his work at NBC. He traveled all over the United States, providing television coverage first as a video engineer, then a technical director. He covered historic events such as state funerals, World Series games, presidential inaugurations, Republican and Democratic conventions, national elections and numerous launches of the Gemini and Apollo space rockets. At the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, he took special care to highlight and show the members of the Winthrop High School Marching Band at the inaugural parade. He would have traveled to Russia for the 1980 Olympics but was prevented by the U.S. boycott of the Olympic Games.


He did "The Tonight Show," "The Today Show" and NBC News, as well as soap operas and children's shows such as "Birthday House." His son Jim once appeared on "Birthday House." He met scores of famous people in his travels and even played poker with "some kid named Elvis" before Elvis became "Elvis."


He and his wife, Barbara, volunteered many years with the Girl Scouts of America. He was an assistant troop leader of her Senior Girl Scout Troop. In 1964, they attended the Girl Scout Roundup in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, where he helped with the communications and wiring of the site.


Randy especially loved amateur radio. He built a great deal of his own equipment. He witnessed the advancement of electronics from vacuum tubes to transistors to digital. His call letters were W2NYU and WAIJJV. He spent hours talking with people all over the world and amassed a huge collection of QSLs -- or contact cards -- from the people he spoke with. He was a life member of the American Radio Relay League. He also belonged to the Pine Tree Chapter 134 of the Quarter Century Wireless Association, and the Quarter Century Wireless Association in Florida, where he recently received a special award for being a "ham" for more than 50 years.


After his retirement in 1987, he and his wife, Barbara, moved to Maine to live full time. They enjoyed sailing, ballroom dancing, bowling, traveling, cruising and wintering in Florida. They visited England, Canada, Mexico and Alaska among many other places. They both loved San Francisco and tried to go there as often as possible.


At the time of his death, Mr. Rand was a Mason and a member of the Winthrop Royal Arch Chapter 37, Temple Lodge 25, A. F. & A.M.


Visiting will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday, March 14, at Roberts Funeral Home, 62 Bowdoin St., Winthrop, with a funeral service to follow at 11 a.m. Amy Katherine Bell, Mr. Rand's granddaughter, will assist in the ceremony. The Masonic lodge will hold ritualistic services at 10:40 a.m. Saturday. Burial will be at a later date in the Maine Veterans' Memorial Cemetery.


In lieu of flowers, the family is suggesting donations be made in his name to the Special Olympics of Maine, 125 John Roberts Road, Suite 19, South Portland, ME 04016; or the Pine Tree Camp c/o the Pine Tree Society, P.O. Box 518, Bath, ME 04530. www.khrfuneralhomes. com