Sonora business owner, education advocate dies at 74 | News | uniondemocrat.com – Union Democrat
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Plentiful sunshine. High 56F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..
Clear skies. Low around 30F. Winds light and variable.
Updated: February 2, 2022 @ 4:59 am
Randy Selesia got his first tow truck in 1967 and started Vic’s Towing, which has been in business since.
Randy Selesia (back row, center, blue shirt) with a class from the Columbia College Fire Academy, where he would donate vehicles for training courses.
Randy Selesia (center) checks election results by phone as Jim Costello (left) and Clay Selesia listen to election news on the radio in 2008.
Randy Selesia, owner of Vic’s Towing for more than five decades, had done jobs all over the county.
Randy Selesia got his first tow truck in 1967 and started Vic’s Towing, which has been in business since.
Randy Selesia (back row, center, blue shirt) with a class from the Columbia College Fire Academy, where he would donate vehicles for training courses.
Randy Selesia (center) checks election results by phone as Jim Costello (left) and Clay Selesia listen to election news on the radio in 2008.
Randy Selesia, owner of Vic’s Towing for more than five decades, had done jobs all over the county.
Randy Selesia built his towing empire in Tuolumne County starting with a single truck his father helped him purchase in 1967.
Selesia’s entrepreneurial spirit helped the company, Vic’s Towing, named after his father, Victor, grow over the years from that single truck into an established local business going on 55 years in operation, currently with 12 trucks, 12 employees, and running as many as 1,500 calls per month.
“When it came to growing his business, he was ambitious,” said his eldest son, Scott Selesia, who is now helping to run Vic’s Towing with his three brothers. “He wasn’t afraid to take on more or purchase equipment or add employees.”
Randy Selesia died at age 74 on Jan. 23 at Doctor’s Medical Center in Modesto, where he had been taken days earlier after suffering from what they believe to be heart-related issues.
In addition to Vic’s Towing, many knew Randy Selesia for his civic involvement in the community over the years as a longtime reserve officer for the Sonora Police Department and Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office, as a member of Sonora Sunrise Rotary Club, and through serving on various committees and boards focused on education.
“He was a very giving person with his time and no nonsense,” Scott Selesia said. “You pretty much always knew where you stood with him.”
The lifelong Sonora resident got his start in the towing industry as a teen working for Jim Opie before graduating from Sonora High School in 1965, his family said.
Randy Selesia also met his wife of 54 years, Linda, by chance in 1966 when she said the two locked eyes while she was walking along the road as he was driving past. The next day, her friend took her to meet him at his father’s business, Vic’s Chevron, and they were married the following year on Sept. 3, 1967.
“He was always a gentleman,” she said. “We really didn’t have to talk much, because it was like we knew what the other one was thinking.”
The couple had the first of their four sons, Scott, in 1968, followed by Clayton in 1970, Joshua in 1985, and Donovan in 1989.
Scott Selesia said his dad was very involved in his kids’ lives while they were growing up, coaching them throughout the years in Little League and soccer as well as participating in school field trips and taking them along with him in the tow truck.
“He was strict and made us behave, that’s for sure, but there were never any times we didn’t know how our father felt about us,” Scott Selesia said. “He didn’t hesitate to show his love for us.”
While raising a family, Randy Selesia also grew his towing business through buying out other companies and taking over contracted areas for AAA. Scott Selesia said they bought AAA towing from Jim Opie in 1976, followed by Heavy Duty Towing and Morrison’s Towing.
The towing business wasn’t always Randy Selesia’s first choice for a career. He originally went to Modesto Junior College and earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice with the idea of going into the California Highway Patrol.
Randy Selesia would later serve as reserve officer and deputy for the city Police Department and county Sheriff’s Office until 1987.
“He truly had a love for both law enforcement and the towing industry,” Scott Selesia said. “For a period of time, he was able to have what everyone wishes for by having both careers. The reserves on the weekends, and then his towing business.”
Some may also be familiar with Randy Selesia from his stints in local politics.
He ran for county supervisor of District 1 in 2008 and earned the endorsement of the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce, but narrowly lost in the November general election to the then-incumbent, the late Liz Bass, by less than 200 votes.
“He just felt that he could make a difference and could help make the county a better place,” Scott Selesia said.
Many also remember Randy Selesia for his generosity with his time, particularly when it came to advocating for career technical education.
Randy Selesia was involved with his alma mater in recent years by serving on a committee to help provide recommendations to the Sonora Union High School District Board of Trustees regarding the future of the Dome and surrounding properties.
Most recently, Randy Selesia was appointed last year to fill a vacancy on the Sonora High board left by the resignation of Krysta Wolken so her husband could take a position as a teacher at the school.
Fellow trustee Erik Andal said the last time he saw Randy Selesia was about two weeks ago when Selesia stepped up to run the board’s last meeting due to the absence of the board’s president.
The two have known each other since 1997 when Andal accepted a position at Columbia College as the automotive program coordinator.
“His expertise on the board in CTE, business and his institutional memory will be a loss,” Andal said. “When he and I talked, the discussion would often circle back to CTE and needs that had to be filled, resources or support or whatever, and he always was a creative idea generator for some of those problems.”
Randy Selesia also served from 2005 to 2014 on the nonprofit Columbia College Foundation’s board, including as president from 2008 to 2010, during which he was said to be instrumental in many of the endowment funds for construction of the new library on the campus.
Shane Warner, the fire technology program coordinator at Columbia College, said that Randy Selesia was also key in donating both his time and provided resources including old vehicles from his business for the fire academy’s vehicle extrication classes, which his family plans to continue doing into the future.
Warner also said Randy Selesia played a key role in advocating for bringing Osher scholarships through the state, which benefit low-income students. The college still receives 20 of the scholarships per year at $1,000 a piece, Warner said.
“To me, that shows you the type of person he was as very giving,” Warner said. “It’s kind of hard to find these days.”
Ed Pelfrey, superintendent of Sonora Union High School District, described Randy Selesia as an “incredible supporter” of all aspects of the district since his graduation in 1965.
“From his concern for alternative ed, his concern for soccer programs that both his children and grandchildren played in, he helped out the school with towing,” Pelfrey said. “His kindness to me personally throughout my time here at the county is something I’ll always treasure. Also, the short time we got to spend with him on the school board.
“He’ll be greatly missed by the whole school district, and by myself personally.”
Contact Alex MacLean at amaclean@uniondemocrat.com or (209) 588-4541.
