Lasting impressions from ‘person behind the camera’


ily, friends and AAC co-workers. The vastness of his impact on the people he came in contact with speaks volumes about Randy, and the evidence of the magnitude and greatness of Randy’s spirit lives on in the minds and voices of his family, friends and peers. On Aug. 15, 2011, news of Randy’s fatal motorcycle accident on State Highway 9 a day earlier spread across the AAC family and the state to the extended family of Randy’s closest friends. The unthink- able had happened to a very good man.


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A consortium of those who knew Randy best would agree that his essence, if it had to be summarized, would simply be, “a good Chris- tian man who loved his life and served all the people in it.” He was a respected journalist and photographer who had enjoyed a successful 31-year career in the newspaper industry before becom- ing the AAC’s first communications director in 2008. He was born in Batesville and was the youngest of three siblings — two sisters and a brother. Randy was a loving father, grandfather, husband, brother and friend.


Randy shot this photo in October 2009 during a family vacation to Florida. Editor’s note: Peggy Kemp, Randy’s wife of 36 years, and David, his


youngest son, sat down with County Lines to describe family memories, share photos and help explain Randy’s personal essence to the readers he served for the last three years. Jeremy, the Kemp’s oldest son, lives in Auckland, New Zealand, with Leslie, his wife, and their two children — Corin, 3, and Ethan Randel, two months. David lives with his wife Charity in Conway. Background artwork: Photo by Randy Kemp, sunset at the Gulf Coast.


Words of men define our lives


ormer AAC communications director Randy Kemp, 55, left footprints in the hearts of those who knew him. The way he lived is what made his passing significant for so many. His sudden tragic death left a void for his fam-


Randy and Peggy Kemp enjoy a trip to St. Louis last June. The two were married in 1975.


By Scott Perkins County Lines Editor


recently asked him to explain his dad in one word. He said hundreds of adjectives rushed through his mind, but after some thought and hearing stories about his father, he determined “ser- vant” to be the word. “I’m proud of my dad for all he accomplished as a journalist, a pho- tographer and a mentor. I’m proud of the shining example he set as a husband, a father, a co-worker and a friend. But I am most proud of his amazing legacy and the lasting impression he left on everybody who had


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escribing a servant is more than a “one-word” proposition. At Randy Kemp’s funeral, David, the Kemp’s youngest son, eloquently spoke about his dad, who he said was his friend and his mentor. He described how a reporter had


Randy takes a nap with his grandson Corin.


the privilege of knowing him,” David said at the service. Even unbeknownst to his family, Randy’s days were peppered with acts of kindness seeded in selflessness and Christian values. Matthew 14:16 might best sum up Randy’s philosophy of life, ac-


cording to Peggy. “But Jesus said to them, ‘Tey do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’”


“Randy tried to put this into practice in every facet of his life,” Peggy


wrote in an e-mail. “He didn’t consider it special to him, but rather a way that all Christians should live their lives.” After his death, the Kemps said they heard stories from countless people about Randy’s random acts of kindness: how he took his coat,


COUNTY LINES, WINTER 2012


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