Jan. 31, 2022

The Sioux Falls icon who gave the city some of its favorite sandwiches has died.

Cecelia “Whiffer” Randall died Sunday in hospice care at home, surrounded by her four children, eight grandchildren and other relatives.

She opened her famous deli, Whiffer’s Sandwiches, on North Minnesota Avenue in 1978 and closed it 42 years later just after her 86th birthday in 2020.

“She was just well known and well loved,” said her daughter Jeannie Randall, who worked with her in the deli in the final years. “She was friends with everyone she met.”

Jeannie Randall said there are many people who have told her that they became friends or even married “because of Mom.” It’s not that she served as a matchmaker, “but she was the glue that brought people together and held people together.”

If customers just wanted to stop at the deli for a sandwich, that was great, but “if you wanted a friendly person to talk to you, you would get that up at the deli. She was always willing to listen no matter what was going on.”

Randall got the idea to open a deli after eating at one on a trip to Sarasota, Florida. There wasn’t anything like it in Sioux Falls, and “some of my acquaintances said I was crazy,” she told SiouxFalls.Business in 2020.

She gave up her career as a teacher and bought a building in the North End, the neighborhood where she grew up. It had housed The Buggy Whip, a Western wear store — hence the hitching post outside.

While she had no experience, “I knew what I wanted: good food, friendly service and good prices,” she said.

Her signature sandwiches were a pile of deli meat, which was never weighed, cheese, sliced onion and a mixture of mustard and mayo served on wheat or pumpernickel bread. Randall’s favorite was the Humdinger with roast beef, ham and turkey.

She was known to play cards with friends in the dining room after the lunch rush.

When she retired in 2020, Gov. Kristi Noem declared it Whiffer Randall Day.

While her four children all worked in the restaurant at various times, Jeannie Randall said at the time of her mother’s retirement there was never a thought to continuing it into the second generation.

“Once Whiffer’s not there, it wouldn’t be Whiffer’s. She is the essence of that restaurant. Those are shoes that nobody but her can fill.”

Her retirement was filled with activity: cards, mahjong, bowling, golfing, church.

Last summer, Randall was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and had gone through treatment.

“The last scan showed no active cancer,” her daughter said. “She was 87, and I think the cancer just wore that little body out. I think she decided ‘I had a good run, and it’s time to go back to heaven.’ She willed herself back to heaven.”

She was in hospice for only a few days.

“Her priest came and did last rites at noon Friday. She was awake for that and took Communion. She stayed awake and then just went to sleep,” Jeannie Randall said.

Visitation services for Randall will be from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Miller Funeral Home, 507 S. Main Ave. A funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at Christ the King Catholic Church.