Pomfret, Vermont

Richard E. Randall died February 18, 2011 of pneumonia at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center following a period of failing health. As always, his beloved wife Nancy was by his side.

He was born on January 24, 1930 in Lynn, Massachusetts, the son of Harold E. Randall and Alice (Baldwin) Randall. Dick grew up in Melrose, Massachusetts and served as an officer in the U.S. Navy during the Korean conflict. Early in life he developed a love of the outdoors, athletic pursuits and exercise. He was an avid tennis player, sailor and hiker, and a die-hard skier.

Dick graduated from UVM with a BS in commerce and economics. He skied on both the downhill and cross country teams but generated his most enduring memories spring skiing in Tuckerman's Ravine. He received his MBA from Babson College and was a graduate of the Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers, where his thesis was accepted for the library.

He joined the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston in 1955 as an assistant bank examiner, and on weekends pursued ski racing. By the time Dick was promoted to Assistant Vice President in the Loan and Credit Department in 1969, he was serving on the National Ski Patrol at Mount Whittier in Ossipee, New Hampshire.

Dick was promoted to Vice President in 1972 and moved on to the Bank Supervision Division in 1979. He had pioneered off-site surveillance of banks beginning in the mid-1960's, and in 1985 developed the prototype of the risk-based capital measure that later became the international standard of the Bank for International Settlements. In 1985, he received the Reserve Bank's President's Award for Outstanding Achievement for his in-depth review in appraising the Fed's capability of supervising large bank holding companies. Dick's analysis was recognized as a significant system-wide project that contributed to Chairman Paul Volcker's testimony before Congress. During these years he and Nancy were making multiple pilgrimages each spring to ski on Mt. Washington's summit snowfields.

Dick spent his last five years at the Reserve Bank serving in the Research Department, where his work focused on the major threats to bank solvency and the policy changes most appropriate to avoiding future problems.

Throughout his career, Dick was a mentor and a teacher. He published numerous articles as well as two books detailing the proceedings of major conferences he oversaw, Safeguarding the Banking System in an Environment of Financial Cycles in 1994 and The Financial Condition and Regulation of Insurance Companies in 1991. When he left the Reserve Bank in 1994, his staff gave him a pair of hiking boots. He and Nancy retired to the Woodstock area and made Suicide Six their home mountain.

For all his professional and athletic expertise, Dick's greatest devotion was to family. His wife, his two sons and their partners, and his two beloved grandchildren, were at the very heart of his being. Dick was blessed with a wealth of dear and wonderful friends. He lived a full, productive, honest life, and when you think of him, he would want you to go outdoors, breathe the fresh air, and get some exercise.

Dick is survived by his wife of 33 years, Nancy, his son Christopher and his partner Michael Reddin of Beverly, MA, his son Craig and his wife Kimberly and their children Alta and Jackson of Canton, MA, and his brother David of Melbourne, FL.

A celebration of Dick's life will be held at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 26, at the North Universalist Chapel Society, 7 Church Street, Woodstock.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mertens House, 73 River Street, Woodstock, VT 05091, or the Woodstock Ski Runners, P. O. Box 171, South Pomfret, VT 05067.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock Vermont. Those wishing may express condolences by visiting Cabotfh.com.