Randall Rush

Obituaries

Wednesday, 25 August 2021 11:42

Randall Earl Rush, 73 of Guntersville passed away on Thursday, August 12, 2021 after a courageous battle with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Services were held on Monday, August 16, 2021 at Union Grove Number One Missionary Baptist Church. An intermentservice followed at Dutton United Methodist Church.
He was born to George Earl and Clarice McKenzie Rush on Wednesday, January 14, 1948 in Scottsboro. He played basketball on the Section High team where he served as captain on the 1966 team and was all-county, all-area and all tri-state. Randall later attended Auburn University where he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and later obtained a law degree from the Birmingham School of Law. Randall retired in 2015 from Southern Company, where his legacy of technical ingenuity and leadership excellence lives on across the utility industry. Known as a trailblazer who challenged himself and those around him, he was committed to achieving outstanding results and motivated his teams to do the same. Randall joined Southern Company in 1973 and was one of the research and development organization’s first chemical engineers. In the early days of the Clean Air Act, Randall pioneered the company’s scrubber program, and his research directly led to a critical Southern Company “Big Bet” — to build scrubbers from plastic. His research on other environmental control technologies, such as selective catalytic reduction, also formed a foundation for the entire industry. Randall guided Southern Company’s early development of liquid solvent-refined coal in Wilsonville, under the Department of Energy’s Clean Coal Technology Program. This led to the establishment of the Power Systems Development Facility in 1990 – the precursor of the National Carbon Capture Center. His unique vision was instrumental in the development and pilot demonstration of the first of its kind Transport Integrated Gasification technology.
Randall is remembered for his booming voice, magnetic presence and his drive to discover solutions. He cared deeply for his team, was devoted to his family and loved hunting and fishing.
He is survived by his wife, Carreen Rush; children, Katherine (Tedd) Weitzman, Anna Ciaccio, Amanda (Sarah Fricke) Gibson, Bradley (Diane King) Gibson, Caitlyn (Daniel Payne) Jones; siblings, Rev. Ricky (Pat) Rush, Cheryl Rhodes; grandchildren, Ava Ciaccio, Jackson Ciaccio, Asher Weitzman, Elizabeth Weitzman, Arthur Weitzman. He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Clarice Rush; brother, Barry Rush; son, Michael Rush.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Alabama Wildlife Federation in memory of Randall Rush for the Outdoor Education Center, alabamawildlife.org.