Obituary

Randy Carl Brightbill, devoted son, husband, father, grandy, friend to everyone, and baby brother of the Brightbill Clan, passed away at the age of 56 on February 8, 2021 due to Covid Pneumonia complications. He was gregarious and had a huge sense of humor and will be missed by all. Few people are fortunate enough to meet such an extraordinary person in their lifetime, and those surviving him feel blessed to have been a part of his short and loving life.

Randy was a West Texas Farmer and never had a desire to be anything but. He followed literally in his daddy’s farmer footsteps almost since the time of his birth on October 6, 1964, and never left his roots. As a young boy of 7 and 8 years old, he and his brother David spent summers at their grandmother’s. They decided that they needed to practice farming, since to be a farmer was the only thing they ever wanted to be. Out back of the house, they painstakingly plotted out a 10’ x 15’ piece of dirt, made with their toy tractors, planted their seeds, and every day, all summer long, they would nurture it and water it by hand. While they were waiting for it to grow, they could be found in the front yard up the tree with a 4’ galvanized pipe. As cars would pass by, they would throw black cat fireworks in the pipe and it would make the loudest noises and scare people. Great fun! Then back to the back of the house after a few hours to check the crop to see if anything had happened. But unfortunately, there was never a harvested crop. School would start, and they would have to go back home. By the age of 10, Randy was allowed to have a more active role in farming with his dad by driving the tractor. Until the day that Randy got it high centered in the ditch and had to man-up and come home to tell his dad about it. By the time Randy was 15 though, his dad gave him 240 acres on the Home Place to farm on his very own. From that point on, he never wanted to do anything else, including school. It was a great effort to stay there all day, when all he wanted to do was get back home and farm. But he stuck it out and he graduated from Abernathy High School in 1982, continuing to work with his dad on their farms. He said that there was no greater joy in his life than to be able to spend every day with his dad, doing the thing he most enjoyed in life. Together they could solve the problems of the world and dream the dreams of kings. In 1991, big brother Jerry came back to the farm, and together with his parents, Bruce and Dorothy Brightbill, they continued the farming legacy, eventually farming 5,000 acres amongst them, and saw the family through times of joy and tears, success and failure, but ultimately for him, to live out a life that he chose, full of passion and to live each day just as he wanted.

Randy never saw a challenge that couldn’t be met head-on, or a task that couldn’t be accomplished. Everything could be improved, removed, redecorated, or added to. He always took on any project in his usual Randy flair, not just with the goal of getting it done, but doing it bigger, better, stronger, and flashier than any normal person would see to do it. His attitude was jump in feet first, and everyone involved would just follow, often wondering just where the trip was taking them, but always glad they were a part of the journey. He made it fun and exciting. The partnership with his brother Jerry Brightbill was a perfect pairing that allowed them to form their next venture, South Plains Precision Ag, Inc. in Plainview TX. As technology emerged in the agricultural world, Jerry’s talent for technology and Randy’ skill in farming gave them the opportunity to introduce auto-guided technology to farms across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. It was the technology that allowed the farmer a better way to farm. They quickly earned a great reputation of trust and community, and if the Brightbill boys were farming that way, many farmers trusted them and followed suit. One older farmer was heard to say, I don’t know what this new thing is, but if they said buy it, I must need it, they always tell it straight, but someone is going to have to show me how to use it. So Randy took the customer in his tractor and showed him how it worked and let the farmer run it for a while. Randy showed many farmers this way. Then we laughed as we saw what he was doing, getting others to do his work. He laughed the hardest though. He had no problem telling a great story on himself. Randy and Jerry were pioneers in this new approach to farming, that has since exploded in the farming world. It’s hard to find a tractor that doesn’t have the technology on it now, but the Brightbill boys were the first ones to use it then. It was never about fame or fortune, but simply helping out their friends, making the job easier to do and the crop bigger and better. Everyone that has ever met them knows that there is not a more honest man, nor better friend to be had. They continue to search for new and improved ways to farm. Randy learned a lot since the little plot of dirt, and seemed to have a 6th sense as to what needed to be done and how it would all work out. After the autopilot allowed the farmer to strip cotton at all hours of the night, there were many times, Randy would call Jerry late at night with his progress. They had planned and plotted how farmers made it into the big “2-ton module club” and how badly they wanted it. One late night several years ago, Randy called Jerry as if in shock, “I think we just made it into the 2 ton club!” It was just about a year later, Randy did the late night call again, but whispering this time, “Jerry, I think we are stripping 3 bale cotton!!” And then the next year, more middle of the night calls, even quieter and slower, as if he would jinx the crop, “Jerry, I think we just hit 4 bale cotton!!!” He was so excited that they were finally doing what he had only dreamed of before. It was like getting a doctorate in farmology, if there was such a thing. Randy also served on the Cotton Center Gin Board, another way he gave of himself to help other farmers.

To Randy, farming wasn’t just a job, but a way of life that he took seriously, of producing crops that would provide for the needs of others. He cared for the resources God gave him and used them to give back to his fellow man. One day the guys found a computer app that could pinpoint where in the world their cotton had traveled and how it was used. They would get excited that they could see the bar code of an actual pair of blue jeans that were made from some of the cotton that their labor provided, or the dairy that got the cotton seed to feed their cows. Randy would just grin and say, Awesome! and Excellent!

Paul Harvey, a long time radio personality describes the farmer in his poem about farmers, “And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, 'I need a caretaker.' So God made a farmer." Today, everyone that ever had a chance to spend even a few moments with Randy knows, on this day, we have now lost an incomparable one of God's caretakers.

God said, "I need somebody willing to work hard and plant a crop, watch it grow,” and watch the West Texas weather wipe it out,” to then dry his eyes and say, 'Maybe next year.' One who can fix anything with baling wire and duct tape, “who, planting time and harvest season, will finish his forty-hour week by Tuesday noon, and then pain’n from tractor back, put in another seventy-two hours" -- so God made a Farmer.

God had to have somebody willing to ride the ruts at double speed to get the cotton in ahead of the storm clouds, and yet stop in mid-field and race to help when he sees the first smoke from a neighbor’s place -- so God made a Farmer.

God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs and wean pigs. When Randy was in high school, his brother David had shown pigs in FFA and now was leaving home. He gave Randy his sow. In Randy’s gentle and nurturing way, tended this sow with love and care. One night the sow had 13 piglets and then she died. Randy had to hand feed all of the little piglets, and did so faithfully and didn’t lose any of them. The piglets thought Randy was their mama though and followed him everywhere, including to the bus stop every day. At the end of the day, they would be back waiting for him to come home. It was quite a sight.

The farmer has to be an optimist or he wouldn't still be a farmer." Randy was an eternal optimist whose respectful and personable nature ensured that he never met a stranger.

He was a perfectionist by nature, but had one of the kindest, most loving and generous souls anyone could imagine. Both of his parents had periods in their lives that involved prolonged care. Randy was the one that sat up all night on many nights in hospital rooms, often sleeping in a chair to make sure they got the proper care, taking one or the other to a doctor visit, checking on them, making sure they lacked for nothing. At times he might be found taking Mother shopping for a new outfit or shoes, which gave her great delight. However, as long as they lived, they never stopped in the plotting and planning and ever optimistic goal of farming, just another year, after another.

Like him, Randy’s tractor is now at rest, but the fruit of his labor lives on in the family he raised. He married the love of his life Janey Brightbill on September 23, 2011, who survives him in Lubbock TX. Together they breathed new breath into each other’s world, and tackled new adventures, living life at full speed ahead each and every day, just as Randy did all his life. He worked hard when it was time to do so, but he loved to play just as hard. They loved to travel, and most especially enjoyed their “other” life in Mexico, forming new friendships, opportunities for business relationships, and as in all of their adventures, allowed them to meet people from all over the world. Their casa was su casa and everyone was always welcomed by the gracious host and life of the party, as he made everyone feel part of the family. He loved to cook and host family dinners and special events at their little paradise retreat at Buffalo Springs Lake. He was a maniac with his jet ski and could be heard laughing his infectious laughter as he twisted and jumped and entertained. Yet he was the most gentle soul when giving rides to those who were young or young at heart. He wanted everyone to feel welcome, loved, and enjoy a day of fun. Randy actively engaged in the raising of four children, Chris Brightbill and wife Agnes of Dallas TX, Matthew Brightbill and his wife, Teresa of Abernathy, Jennifer Hale, and John Hale, both of Lubbock TX. He attended most of their games and activities and was always their biggest (and loudest) cheerleader. He knew their friends and kept up with their hopes and dreams and wanted only what was best for each of them. All four have chosen careers that will make a difference in this world and so his legacy of giving back will continue. He also leaves behind 5 grandchildren, Christian, Aaron, Kathryn, Trevor, and Robert.

Randy was preceded in death by his parents, Bruce and Dorothy Brightbill. He is survived by his wife Janey Brightbill, 3 brothers, Jerry Brightbill and wife Linda of Plainview TX, Darryl Brightbill and wife Pat of Abernathy, TX, and David Brightbill and wife Joyce of Monrovia MD.

God said, "I need somebody strong enough to clear trees and heave bails, yet gentle enough to tame lambs, It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant, and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church;”

Randy was raised, just as most farmers, with deep spiritual beliefs that carried him to the end of his life. He knew that He would eventually walk with His Heavenly Father and never feared death because of it. He knew God would provide for all of his needs and never was disappointed. There was never a meal that you didn’t stop before you ate, and thank the Good Lord for providing. He didn’t always understand why there were some really bad years, years that it seemed you had to start from the beginning yet again, but he did know that there were many more good years and that you planned for those bad years and learned from them. He carried that philosophy throughout his life and used it in many other areas, and His Faith paved his journey home.

God said He needed somebody who would bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his child says that he wants to spend his life (giving back, just) doing what dad does" -- so God made a Farmer.

Randy doesn’t wish for any to mourn his passing, but instead to party, so a celebration of this amazing man’s life will be planned at a later date, when it is safe to hug and laugh and tell stories and celebrate a life Well Done.

In the meantime, he would want, if you chance to reflect upon his life, take a walk in the country, feel the breeze, the sun, the sand, and the gentle rain. Soak in the smells and enjoy the sounds. On a hot humid day, you really can hear the corn grow, or walk in the field and hear it crackle. At night if you look to the sky, see the lights of heaven shining through the stars and enjoy what God has given us. And most of all, hold the ones you love tight, don’t waste time being mad, just tell them you love them, and cherish them. Take the day off and make the memories that will carry you through, until we meet again. Thank you God for creating this farmer, he planted seeds in our lives that will continue to harvest goodness for generations to come.