Mason Randall Obituary

Mason Keith Randall

Jan 20, 1951 - Mar 2, 2026

Mason Keith Randall, lover of colorful shirts, cats, any John Wayne movie, and any Beach Boys song, went to be with our Lord and Savior on March 2, 2026, after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 75.

A celebration of life service will be held on Saturday, March 14, at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Bryan. Visitation will be held at 10:00 a.m., prior to the service. At his request, attendees are asked to wear Hawaiian or colorful shirts. The service will be livestreamed.

Keith was born in Dallas, Texas, on January 20, 1951. He always said that Dallas was a great town in the 1950s–60s, but much too big for him now. He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1969 and accepted a baseball scholarship to Hill Junior College in Hillsboro. He said those were two of the best years of his life. Despite setting school records for home runs and RBIs and receiving several scholarship offers, he gave up his baseball career because he had met the love of his life, Joan Hunt, a Hillsboro girl. He followed Joan to North Texas State University, and both graduated in 1973. Keith earned a degree in journalism and later a master's degree from Baylor University. Keith and Joan married on December 14, 1973, and recently celebrated 53 years of marriage. Keith was very proud of the life and legacy they built together.

After graduation, they moved to Waco, and Keith began working as a sportswriter for the legendary Dave Campbell. Keith covered Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Houston Oilers, and loved every minute of it for the next 10 years. He left the Waco Tribune-Herald and went to work as the news director for Baylor University for the next 15 years, and later worked at Texas A&M for 25 years.

At Baylor, Keith was heavily involved in covering major stories such as Baylor's 1991 historic charter change, which altered how the school had been governed since 1845; two major basketball scandals; the 1993 Branch Davidian raid in Waco, during which dozens of Baylor faculty served as news sources throughout the 51-day standoff; and Baylor's first dance in 1995. At Texas A&M, he handled media relations during the 1999 bonfire collapse, the university's worldwide news coverage of cloning five animal species, including CC, the world's first cloned cat, and A&M's entrance into the Southeastern Conference.

He also taught journalism for six years at Baylor and five years at Texas A&M. At Baylor, because the class sizes were smaller, he gave the final exam at his home, feeding the students pizza and brownies while daughters Leslie and Terrell handed out the exams. Those were fun days.

Keith enjoyed his news career and came into contact with numerous sports stars, entertainment stars, 4 U.S. presidents, and many governors and senators. He liked going to work every day because he said that no 2 days were alike.

Keith was considered a highly capable media relations expert and news writer, as evidenced by the more than 50 communication awards he received from organizations such as the Associated Press, United Press International, the Texas Public Relations Association, the Texas Sports Writers Association, and others. In addition, he was a 22-time winner of the CASE Award (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education).

Keith was very proud of his daughters, Leslie and Terrell, who both graduated from Baylor and became outstanding educators like their mother. Leslie and her husband, Terri, of Tomball, TX, have four children: Brooks (21), Lainey (18), Annabel (16), and Luke (15). Terrell and her husband, Kevin, of Denver, CO, have one son, PK (9). Keith loved fishing, going to football games, baseball games, cheerleading competitions, and watching his grandchildren grow up and succeed academically.

He was blessed with great family support from in-laws Joyce and Larry Moore of Richardson, Janice Helton of Sachse, Judy and Harold Whittington of Garland, as well as his many nieces and nephews and his lifelong friend Ginger Terrell. He was preceded in death by his parents, Dutch and Jerry Randall, and his sisters, Susan Winstead of Springfield, MO, and Diana Stanley of Dallas, TX.

Many thanks to the doctors, nurses, and staff at Baylor Scott & White for their care of Keith over the past four years. Thank you to the nurses at Brazos Valley Hospice, our Closer Walk Class at First Baptist Bryan, and our friends and neighbors for your love and support.

Please visit www.hillierfuneralhome.com to share deepest condolences and expressions of gratitude for Keith and a life well lived.

Hillier Funeral Home of Bryan

2301 E. 29th St., Bryan, TX, 77802