Randy Ransoms end of life expenses

Hi!

My name’s Ronnie Ransom. I’m the first-born son of Randy Ransom. I’ll be honest, this Gofundme isn’t an easy thing for me to do. I’m not an overly proud person but I am very independent and I don’t like asking for help like this. I’m not sure my Dad would have been super in to me needing to ask but I also know he wouldn’t want to be a burden on his family and I don’t know what else to do. It is what it is and I appreciate you for being here for it.

My Dad died in early march 2024. He was dealing with a lot of medical issues and they caught up with him. I’m not here to get into detail about his death though. He would tell me when he died he didn’t want a funeral and people being sad. He wanted people to be happy and tell stories about him. He would want me to tell you he was a grandfather, father, brother, uncle and great-uncle. He was a friend to many and I honestly have no idea how he kept track of everyone but he did. He knew everyone’s first and last names and all their kids names and their dogs and had stories about them and he honestly loved everyone. He never spoke ill about anyone and wanted the best for everyone. He often told me when people were rude to him he preferred to assume they were just having a bad day and were unintentionally being that way. He always focused on the good in people and tried to see their potential over their shortcomings.

Randy was an avid musician and music lover. For now, I’ve chosen to post his recordings via YouTube and hope to get some of his pictures digitized and posted later. I think it’s fitting though as Randy is probably much better remembered by his music. Thank you to Sandra Blair for sending those to us. My brothers and I knew he had videos but were having a hard time finding them and She really helped us out.

My old man loved all kinds of music. He listened to everything. I grew up with everything from rock, blues, country and jam bands to Chopin and Mozart to traditional tribal musics and Gregorian chants. He didn’t always like my music but he was always willing to listen to it and give it a chance and he loved anything live. He took me to my first concert when I was 6- The Grateful Dead and regularly went to see live music at the Variety Playhouse as well as going to Gabba Fest in Macon as often as he could. He loved The Allman Brothers and would visit Rose Hill Cemetary almost as a pilgrimage. He saw the Dead every time they were in Atlanta for years and loved supporting local musicians. He loved Warren Zevon, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, RHCP, Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, Gram Parsons and really just too many to realistically list and give any true scope of his vast musical tastes. He was an encyclopedia of musical knowledge.

There’s not going to be a funeral and instead of services we’re going to be throwing a party for him (date tbd). He often told me that when he died he didn’t want a sad funeral. He wanted people to be happy and tell stories about him. He said he would be going on to better things and he wanted everyone to celebrate his passage into the next life. He didn’t want to burden anyone and often said that when he died he wanted me to throw his body in a ditch and keep collecting his ss checks. I’m still only half sure he was joking. I feel like the best thing I can do for him therefore is a party and parties don’t cost much.

I put this under funerals and memorials as a category for gofundme because there’s no option for dude left work for me to do and I need help. I’m currently at his home in Georgia handling his affairs and possessions. I just so happen to be between jobs and therefore am in a good position to do this however, I’ve been getting by lately with odd jobs through my social network in Denver where I live and have not had access to that in Georgia. I’ve borrowed money for the more immediate costs like cremation and an estate lawyer as well as living expenses. These things can be repaid from his estate but I’m not able to borrow everything I need and can’t pull from an estate account that won’t contain funds until the house is sold. He left us an inheritance in the form of his house which is of some value but that value is not immediately useable. Some of his equipment holds value but I can’t bear to part with it. He also didn’t leave much in the way of bills but I do have expenses with his estate that I don’t know how to handle as well as a shortage of funds just to live and operate while I’m in Georgia. His good friend has offered to help with a rental truck and traveling expenses to take his things back to Colorado so I can go through them properly but it’s more than I’m comfortable asking her to take on alone and I’m hoping for enough to help with that. I will also have to pay for storage until the house is sold and I need to rent a dumpster for everything we’re not keeping as well as the remaining house hold trash. I’m not sure what else may come up but I’ve already found that not all costs in this situation are easily predicted. If this gofundme is successful enough than anything left over when I’m done will go towards his party and flying his sons to that party (we all live outside of Georgia).

SO, enough of all that. If you actually read all that thank you so much. I very much wrote it for the people that care to read it. I know my dad had so many people that care about him and I wanted to connect with you. The next part is for those that like to skip the tldr and see what this is for. If you’re one of those, thank you truly for looking and no worries! It takes all types to make the world go round and God bless it! For anyone who wants to help, even if you can’t contribute monetarily that’s fine! I appreciate you regardless and I appreciate that you’ve taken the time! If everyone could just help me by sharing this around however you do, my brothers and I would really appreciate it. I’m hoping many hands will make for light work.  

Dry Figures-

Truck rental approx. $1800

Gas for truck est. $650

Travel Food (3 adults) $250

dumpster est. $500

Living expenses 1 week (3 adults) $700

Other expenses as of yet

unforseen/impatient bill collectors $1100

Total. $5000

Although to be honest, I really was just close to $5000 by the time I got to the “other expenses” category and chose the number to make the total nice and round. I may actually need more or less by the time it’s over, I don’t know. I’m really not sure what to expect from this gofundme.   If this were to magically be super successful there are several renovations I'd like to make to the house that if done would help it be more sellable. As it currently is we'll need to sell "as is" to a developer at a loss. I would prefer to sell to a family not only to get a better price but also because I feel he'd prefer it that way. For now I'll consider that a pipe dream but I wanted to make it known I have plans if we go past our asking mark.  I know he had a lot of friends but people have their own problems and I respect that. No matter what, thanks for checking it out, thanks for doing whatever you can, and thanks from my father, my brothers and I for being a part of his story.

-Ronnie Ransom (Ronald Edward Ransom III)