We recently lost a member of the Spectrum Family. Former board member, Randy Farrell, passed away on March 19, 2025. Randy was a founding member of Spectrum and served on our board from December 12, 2013 – June 14, 2020.
There will be a Big Gay Party (as he requested) community memorial for Randy on Tuesday April 1st from 6:30pm-8:30pm at Grand River Recreation Complex, 600 Heritage Drive, Kitchener. All are welcome.
Randy was a graduate of Waterloo Lutheran University and worked at the Waterloo Region District School Board as Supervisor of IT Support but it is for his legacy of community service and advocacy for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community in Waterloo Region that we’d like to remember him today.
Randy was instrumental in Spectrum’s programs for older adults. He was a member of our Aging with Pride committee which worked to provide important 2SLGBTQIA+ cultural competency training to local senior-serving organizations, including the Village at Winston Park, where he lived his last years. He also worked as a member of the Breaking the Silence on Hidden Violence group which, aligned with the Crime Prevention Council, studied queerphobia in our community and worked to bring an end to it.
Randy also volunteered with Beyond the Rainbow, the Waterloo Wellington Trauma Services Initiative, the Canadian Hearing Society, Hospice Waterloo Region, and National Service Dogs. Randy was the chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Council for Kitchener Seniors (MACKS), and a member of the Waterloo Region Rainbow Community Council.
In the 2015 tri-Pride Community Awards, Randy received the OUTstanding Individual award. For many years he supported the work of the tri-Pride festival, including by running silent auctions to raise funds.
In 2019, Randy was named Kitchener’s senior of the year. Mayor Berry Vrbanovic said, “His efforts and ongoing support for the Rainbow community in Kitchener and beyond promotes inclusivity and helps foster a greater sense of belonging for all residents in our city.”
You can hear from Randy in his own words in Melissa Sky’s 2014 documentary, Rainbow Reflections.
You can also read this 2017 interview with CBC in which Randy discusses the importance of dedicated 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces.
Randy was always highly visible with his glowing smile and jean jacket covered with 2SLGBTQIA+ buttons and pins. Randy donated the jacket to the Grand River Rainbow Historical Project and it is now in the collection at Kitchener Public Library’s Grace Schmidt Room.
