Houghton Surname Project

Randy Lee Houghton¹

M, #67621, b. 4 July 1975, d. 16 March 2002

Father*: Lee Alton Houghton b. 17 Feb 1952
Mother*: Cathy Darlene Boyles² b. c 1954

Family: Randi D. Hons

Marriage*: Randy Lee Houghton married Randi D. Hons on Oct 21, 1995 at Roswell, Chaves Co., NM, USA.^1,4

Haily Marie Houghton b. 18 Jan 1997
Kordale Tyler Houghton¹ b. 24 Apr 1998

Biography

Corresponded with author

A Contributor to Houghton Surname Project

Birth

Jul 4, 1975

Midland Co., TX, USA^1,3

Education

1993

Roswell, NM, USA, Goddard High School

Marriage

Oct 21, 1995

Roswell, Chaves Co., NM, USA^1,4

Death

Mar 16, 2002

Roswell, NM, USA, by the gunman who invaded his home along with other emergency responders.

Burial

Osawatomie Cemetery, Osawatomie, Miami Co., KS, USA, His wife has his ashes.^1,4

Obituary

Mar 22, 2002

Roswell, NM, USA, Roswell Daily Record (NM) - March 22, 2002
Deceased Name: Randy Houghton: Friends remember slain comrade
Carin Pettersson

Record Staff Writer

The members of the City Parks Department managed to laugh out loud in spite of everything they have been through, as they were remembering their friend and colleague, Randy Houghton.

"He was one of the kind," said Anthony Stroble, grounds maintainer, who had known Randy since 1995 and considered him one of his closest friends. "The thing is, he would give the shirt of his back. Literally he gave me his coverall's so I could be warm on the tractor. It was cold outside."

Randy was willing to share what ever he had. As Stroble started his story of that cold winter day last year, the voices in the next room seemed to die down, like they were remembering their own stories and what he meant to them.

According to Roland Lipscomb, parks superintendent, Randy started as a temporary out of high school. He later came back and worked full-time for the department.

Randy worked with parks maintenance for eight years before he transferred to the streets department in June 2000. They were sad to see him go, but his front door was always open and they knew they would always be welcome.

"It was a pleasure to work with Randy," explained Mike Ramey, a fellow grounds maintainer. Randy and Ramey had been friends since their high school days at Goddard. "He always gave a 110 percent If you has a problem or something, he would always help."

As Ramey and Stroble continued their stories of their friend, their laughter and memories seem to brighten the large, empty room.

According to the friends, Randy was a true friend for them all and he will be greatly missed.

"He was always exited to see a friend," Stroble said. "You could always drop by his house. He would always invite you in. I remember, if you didn't attend on going to his house, don't say you were because he would bug you. He would call; 'you are coming over, right?'"

The voices beyond the wall have died down and the men to whom they belong have moved into the large room. They are sitting quietly listening.

According to his friends, he would do anything to help a person in need because that was who he was.

"Regardless of whatever, he wasn't a hero or nothing, he would have done it for anybody," Ramey commented as he looked away. "It has been a reality check for a lot of people. It's hard. You never know what's going to happen, when your time is up."

As they reminisced, the members of the parks department said they expected to see Randy walk in the door with a smile on his face, ready to make them laugh and for a little while make them forget about all their troubles.

"He always made you laugh," Ramey said. "'I got you to smile, didn't I?' He was a good guy. He was fun to be around."

Ramey and Stroble were talking at the same time as they explained how Randy would run up the concrete wall and do an elegant backward flip.

"He would always try everything once," Ramey said. "We always tease him; 'You will fall and break you neck.' 'Nah, it will be all right.' I used to say to him, if you could bundle up some of that energy, I would take it."

Most of the parks employees had all heard stories of his kids, Haily, 5, and Kordale, 3. He was so proud of them, and they were his joy.

"He died doing the thing he did best - loving his kids," Strobler explained. "He loved his kids more than anything in the world."

According to his friends, Randy was an avid outdoors man who was always ready to go. Many of them had been fishing buddies for years. He was also an die-hard Dallas Cowboys fan. Ramey said that when he and his wife bought their house, Randy was one of the first people to offer to come and help with the renovations.

"He painted 'Dallas Cowboys are no. 1' (on the wall)," Ramey said and couldn't help but to laugh. "My wife said, 'Get that (...) of my wall.'"

And of course, Randy did paint over his message. The Ramey family no longer has that memory plastered across their wall, even though Randy never did change his opinion- the Dallas Cowboys were always no. 1.

"He is the one guy that you can say was a true friend," Ramey said. "If he said he would be there, he would. We were thinking of his family. They (Randy and his wife, Randi) must have been made for each other. They were a pair. She was just as hyper as he was. You couldn't ask for better people. All our hopes, hearts and prayers are with Kordale and with the Houghton family. Deep in our hearts we had to love him a little bit."

Randy will always be missed, and for the guys at the department, they will always kind of expect him to walk in that door with a smile on his face.

"You would think he would out live us all," Stroble said. "That's the shock of it all. I could sit and talk about him forever, stories and the things he would do. Everybody here has a story about him. No matter how bad a day you were having, he would always be able to make you laugh. He was such a great guy, and I just wanted everybody to know that."

Then as they had filtered into the room with the memories of their friend, the men disappeared. Then all that was left was the empty room, except that the memories had remained, as they always will.⁵

Biography

According to a representative for Covenant Health Systems in Lubbock, Roswell Fire Chief Louis Jones and 3-year-old Cordell Houghton remain in critical condition at the intensive care unit.

Jones and Houghton were shot by Paul Freeman, a man with a history of mental problems, when he opened fire with a 9mm handgun against a neighbor, and ambulance and fire department personnel. Houghton’s father, Randy, and EMT Steve Lovato were pronounced dead at the scene. Freeman committed suicide shortly after firing the deadly shots.

According to Richard Campbell, chief of police, Freeman always carried a weapon with him.

According to Campbell, Freeman took Haily Houghton, 5, as a hostage and used her as a shield as he shot her father, brother, Steve Lovato and Jones.

“He had taken the little girl hostage,” Campbell said. “He retreated into a bedroom with the little girl.