Randy Halfhide, Hunter
August 6, 1944 - May 8, 2021
Randolph Nathan Halfhide was born on the sixth of August, 1944, in Beloit, Kansas, the younger son of Lawrence “Bud” and Bertha (Quade) Halfhide. He was raised on the Halfhide family farm at the foot of the Blue Hills in Mitchell County, just a half mile from his paternal grandparents. Love of family and the farm were instilled in him from the very beginning.
Randy attended Victor School, a one-room schoolhouse several miles from the farm. He told people that in eighth grade he “walked in the front door and out the back door.”
When Randy was 18 years old, he stopped by the Seehafer Café in Hunter and was waited on by a pretty little waitress that caught his eye. Gayle Balthazor served him pie and he lost his heart to her. They were married just a few months later, on Randy’s 19th birthday, August 6, 1963. Their first few years of married life were spent in the home where his grandparents had lived on the family farm. Here they welcomed their first two children, sons Scott and Timothy. Randy helped his father and brother with farm work and began his life’s work of tuning pianos.
The family moved a lot, following the piano tuning business. No matter where they moved, they always moved back to the family farm. They lived in Great Bend, Heizer, and Osborne, returning home after each new community. During this time their two youngest joined the family, daughter Ann Marie and son Lawrence Everett “Lee.” After the death of his parents, Randy and his brother split the farm and it was impossible to make a living on the land when there was such a small quantity. So in 1979 they auctioned off all of their farm equipment and left the farm for the final time, moving to Concordia.
Randy and Gayle left Concordia in 1990, moving to Glasco. They moved several more times before settling back in Hunter several years ago. Randy never retired from piano tuning. Just three weeks before his death, he tuned all of the pianos at the Motherhouse and Manna House, never realizing it would be his last time.
Randy’s heart was rooted in the family farm, always retaining the home place property and spending lots of time there. He loved his family. His soul was wrapped in music; Randy was a natural musician. Given a little bit of practice, he could play just about any instrument. He could not read music at all, but could play almost any song by ear. He played with the Wild Wood Wranglers in the 1970s, and in the early 1980s formed a family band with his son Tim and daughter Ann called RTA. The band was very popular for many years and recorded in Nashville in 1992. It was rare to find Randy without a guitar or fiddle in his hands and if there was a piano in the room, he had to play it.
After years of struggling with numerous illnesses, Randy Halfhide passed away on May 8, 2021, at Salina Regional Health Center. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother Bill and his wife Jeanne, and special dog Smoot. Randy is survived by his wife Gayle of the home in Hunter, son Scott (Lori) Halfhide; son Tim (Jody) Halfhide; daughter Ann (Johnny) Adams, and son Lee (Kristin) Halfhide, all of Concordia; 13 grandchildren; four great grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and friends that he treasured.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 12 at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Hunter. Visitation will be from 1-7 p.m. with family present from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Roberts Family Funeral Home.
Memorials may be given to the Church or the O'Connor Animal Shelter, Concordia.
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