John Randolph “Rand”/”Johnny” Hrivnak

July 19, 1956 – June 29, 2022

It is with broken hearts that we announce the passing of John Randolph “Rand” /”Johnny” Hrivnak.  Rand was born July 19, 1956 in Braddock,  Pennsylvania to William and Patricia (Fabyanic) Hrivnak the oldest of 6 siblings.  His brothers and sisters called him the “Golden Child” because he could do no wrong. 

He worked for over 40 years at BASF, formerly Harshaw Chemical, and retired in 2020.  He lived most of his life in the Elyria area, but moved to Georgia in July 2020 to be with his wife Sheena, whom he loved dearly.  She survives. 

Family meant the world to Rand, and we’re so grateful for the lifetime of memories he gave us, especially since we’re saying goodbye to him far too soon.  He showed up at every family get together, usually with a side of radishes because radishes were his favorite.  He somehow managed to never wash a single dish.  Ever.  We called it one of his special talents.  He was known to slip out of parties undetected, with only the empty beer bottle in his Blues coozie giving us a hint that he had left.  To this day when anyone sneaks out of a party without saying goodbye we call it a “Stealth Rand”.  He showed up whenever anyone in the family was moving, mostly to supervise with a beer in his hand.  He devised creative nicknames for his siblings, nephews, and friends that seemed to only make sense to him (although he later confessed even he didn’t know where some of the random strings of words and sounds came from). 

Rand had a remarkable ability to remember trivia, especially useless trivia, and numbers.  He knew everyone’s birthdays, including his quite large extended family’s, with never having written them down or putting them on a calendar.  He studiously applied his number retention ability to selecting his lottery numbers, a habit he picked up from Pops.  We were often bemused at where he found inspiration for that day’s number choices (seriously, who really knows when Rasputin’s birthday is except Rasputin and Rasputin’s mother?  Well, and Rand).   

Rand was not mechanically inclined.  At all.  Anytime Pops was missing a tool because one of the kids had borrowed it, he always knew which kid didn’t have it.  If you were working on a project and needed someone to hand you tools, he was not your guy.  If you needed someone to make sure you always had a beer to drink and tunes to listen to while you worked, he was in his element. 

Rand loved music, especially the blues, and was happy spending Saturday nights hanging out on the patio with his siblings drinking some cold ones and rocking to tunes until the wee hours of the morning, well after Maggot Brain had played on the radio.  He dubbed himself the Blues Dude, not just because of his love of blues music but also because he was a fan of the St. Louis Blues.  We’re going to miss all the beer wagers when one of our hockey teams was playing his!  We’re pretty sure he still owed some of us a case or two.          

Rand was a simple man, laid back, a genuine guy who lived in the moment.  He never existed in or gave much thought to the past or the future, he was just “doing his time on planet Earth”.  You couldn’t help but smile when you’d see him come ambling into a room. 

He was just Rand.  And he was one of our favorite people in this world. 

He was preceded in death by his cherished Dad, “Pops” and sister-in-law Kim Hrivnak, and we know he’s giving them hugs from all of us.    

He is survived by his Mom, Patricia of Elyria; his daughter Amy (Nate) Slanker and granddaughter Annabelle of Upper Arlington;  and his siblings Mick (Valerie) Hrivnak of Elyria;  Ron (Kathy) Hrivnak of Columbia, SC;  Deb Hrivnak of Elyria; Bill Hrivnak of Elyria, and Brenda (Jay) Kimball of Collins, Ohio. 

He is also survived by nephews and nieces John (Tami) Hrivnak (also Rand’s Godson), Christopher (Maranda) Hrivnak, Josh (Tina) Welch, Matthew (Ashly) Hrivnak, Jordan Hrivnak, Todd (Celeste Hamilton) Hinkle, Scott (Krista Bingham) Hrivnak, Lyssa (Nick Kokis) Beckham, Jess Beckham, Erick (Madelyn Puterbaugh) Hrivnak, Corey (Meghan Thompson) Hrivnak, and Luke (Brandi) Walker who are scattered around in Ohio, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, California, and New York. 

Also mourning his loss are numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins whose lives were so intertwined with his.  All the memories of family reunions, trips to Cedar Point, and so many get-togethers, random jokes, and pranks over the years bring smiles and laughter through our tears.  We know their hearts are as broken as ours.

 A celebration of life will be held Saturday, August 6, 2022 (time to be determined) at the Elyria Eagles Club at 1255 Lowell Street, Elyria, Ohio 44035.  In lieu of flowers, and because his granddaughter was closest to his heart, a fund has been set up for Annabelle and memorial contributions may be made for her at the below link:

Annabelle Slanker - Memorial contributions for Randy Hrivnak (posthope.org)

 Rand, you left us too soon.  The light in our world is forever dimmed.