Cemetery District Director Attends Very Few Funerals

It’s fortunate that Sam Randall has a sense of humor. And a thick skin.

He’s often greeted with lines such as, “What’s it like to have 5,000 people under you?” or “Is business dead?”

“At least no one is ever indifferent or shrugs their shoulders when I’m asked about my occupation,” said Randall. He is general manager of the Orange County Cemetery District, which owns and operates four cemeteries in Anaheim, El Toro, Garden Grove and Santa Ana.

In fact, “My wife and (two) children cringe at the fact I work at the cemetery district,” he said. “Mostly they say I’m a district manager unless someone forces it on them. Then they tell.”

And if nothing else, he said, deep down most people are curious about death and burials. But despite that curiosity, he added, the majority of residents who ask about his job aren’t even aware that there is a cemetery district.

And before he was selected for his job, that included Randall. But now he is busy spreading the word about the tax-supported district in talks to community groups and service clubs. And funeral directors.

“I want the public to know more about the cemetery district (formed in 1985) and to become aware of our beautification plan,” he said. “It’s difficult to ask someone to come out and see our cemeteries, so the best way is for us to get our name out to the public more and more.” He said district representatives don’t make a hard sell of the plots in the four cemeteries.

“When the job opportunity came about, I wasn’t even aware that there was a cemetery district,” said the one-time assistant director of the Tustin Parks and Recreation Department and former employee of the Orange County administrative office.

He added: “I never gave a thought to working in the cemetery industry before I took this job, but it isn’t any different than being the manager of any other district or program the county runs.”

But it is a rare occasion for Randall, a Cal State Fullerton graduate, to attend a funeral. “I’m mostly involved in the administration of the district, but I’m called in unusual circumstances such as a large military funeral that might involve a traffic problem.”

Or for a funeral involving special cultural needs. “Sometimes, we have people who want to lower the casket in the ground themselves and we don’t allow that,” he said. “Or they want to leave food after the casket is buried.”

He said a staff member at each cemetery attends every funeral. “We have some very good people working for the district,’ said the 17-year Tustin resident who served as chairman of the Tustin Parks and Recreation Commission and is an avid fisherman and professional sports enthusiast.

Although working for a cemetery was hardly in his thoughts during his early days, “I’m enjoying my work. It really is like any other county district,” he said.

But there is one major difference, he notes. “We bury people.”

Dr. Charles Goldsworthy of Newport Beach has become something of a national celebrity after Cosmopolitan Magazine named him November bachelor of the month.

It also printed his address and invited “tasteful temptresses” to write him.

“It has been kind of interesting,” said the Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center emergency room doctor who was nominated to the honor by a friend who wrote to the magazine. “I’m getting women writing me from all over the place and introducing themselves. I’ve dated an Orange County attorney and a Los Angeles schoolteacher who wrote me.”

Goldsworthy, 35, said he plans to marry some day but feels happy with his bachelor life. “I’m picky. It just hasn’t happened yet,” he observed.