Born in 1971 in Texas City, Rynn grew up the youngest of eight children in the small town of Atlanta, Texas. She had five brothers and two sisters and was spoiled rotten by all of them. Her father left when she was five and her mother, Wanda, continued to raise all eight children as a single parent. Rynn didn't have a lot, but there was so much love in her home that she felt like they had it all! Rynn met her husband, Casey, at a church youth dance in Shreveport, Louisiana when she was a sophomore in high school. He took Rynn out on her first date when she turned sixteen, and they continued to date until Casey graduated from high school and left for college and two years of church missionary service.
In 1989, Rynn graduated from Atlanta High School, and left her mom and her small Texas town to follow her older siblings to college at Brigham Young University. Rynn never dreamed she would bump into Casey again on the campus of BYU. It had been five years from the time they first met at that church dance! They were married in Manti, Utah in 1992 and shortly thereafter they moved to Nacogdoches, Texas. While there, Casey attended Stephen F. Austin State University, while Rynn attended the Nursing Program at Angelina College. Rynn was very surprised one day when Casey announced that he wanted to join the Army ROTC program and be commissioned an officer in the United States Army. Rynn was reluctant, but understood that Casey felt a calling to serve his country. At that point, they made the Army their future and Casey was commissioned in May of 1997. Seven Army posts, four kids, and four deployments later, she's glad they did! They celebrated their 20th anniversary this year and are very grateful that his R&R dates allowed them to be together to celebrate this special occasion.
Although Rynn loves aerobics, running, hiking, weight training, scrapbooking, and going on lunch dates, she spends most of her time chauffeuring her kids around to their activities. Her family loves watching movies, listening to music, playing basketball and going on long walks with their dog, Denali. They also love board games and anything outdoors.
Rynn has enjoyed the many interests she's had in her life: She's been a hair stylist, a labor and delivery nurse, an aerobics instructor, an RN at a pediatric clinic, and an elementary school nurse. After numerous moves, Rynn felt a passion to take a break from nursing and put her energy into real estate. She gets so much fulfillment out of helping military families find the right home and being their advocate, since she has never felt like they had “that someone” when they were moving to a new post. These have been great careers, but none of them compare to being a mom and raising her children. She was fortunate to be a full-time stay at home mom while all of her children were young.
She has a 17-year-old daughter, MacKenzie, a high school senior preparing for college with a special gift of music. Her son Kade, 15, is a freshman and enjoys playing basketball. Koy, 13, is in the 7th grade and loves basketball, too. Eli, 9, is in the 4th grade and enjoys football and basketball – and does not like soccer. Even though this is their fourth deployment, this one has been very different from the last one they experienced five years ago. They have teenagers now and that changes everything! The notion that she was a "veteran of the deployment thing" went out the window pretty quickly. She has discovered that every deployment is different and she is grateful for the humbling lessons she has had to learn from each of them.
Neither Rynn nor Casey has a family history of military service, but he had a burning desire to serve in the Army. She is so proud and honored to be his wife – an Army wife – and this sense is elevated during deployment. Rynn feels that she is also serving her country and is thankful for the exciting life they have had in the Army. Her family has been stationed at Fort Sill (Oklahoma), Fort Campbell (Kentucky), Fort Knox (Kentucky), Baumholder (Germany), West Point (New York), Fort Leavenworth (Kansas), and now, Fort Richardson (Alaska). They have met amazing people all along the way. Thanks to Army life, they have seen parts of the world that most people only dream of seeing.
Major Casey Randall has deployed once to Kosovo, twice to Iraq, and once to Afghanistan. The Army has been good to Rynn's family and she continues to pray that her sweetheart will be protected while on foreign soil. He has served as the Operations Officer (S3) and is now serving as the Executive Officer (XO) of the 2-377 PFAR Battalion at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
Rynn feels honored to be a part of this documentary series and she is grateful that she can share her life as an Army wife with America.
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