Rooted in London: The Weddle Family’s Journey of Love, Loss, and Community

“This is home and it always has been.”

London isn’t just the place Mayor Randall Weddle and his wife, Victoria call home—it is the very heart of their story and their journey together.

For Randall and Victoria, the story of London is the story of their lives—a journey defined by deep roots, unwavering community spirit, and a legacy of service. Over the years, the Weddle family has sacrificed and worked tirelessly to give back to the town that shaped them, pouring their hearts into making London a place where families can thrive for generations to come.

Randall and Victoria’s story began as early as middle school, where the couple first met after Victoria’s family, who are originally from Manchester, moved back to the area. From those early days, their friendship quickly blossomed into a close bond and in February, the couple will be celebrating 25 years of marriage.

Victoria can still recall how captivated she was by Randall’s charming ways all those years ago.

“He was and is the sweetest man I ever met,” she said. “Randall only knows one thing and that’s to love hard. His love for me and our children has never changed and nor has he.”

The high school sweethearts had two children, Alexis and Nicholas, at a young age and lived in London for a time before making the move to Indianapolis, Indiana where they lived for 14 years.

After the passing of Randall’s father in 2013, Randall said he and Victoria started missing their families and the place they called home all those years ago. So, the family of four packed up and moved back to their home state. While living in Lexington, the Weddle family faced the heartbreaking loss of their infant son, Christian, in November 2014. Two years later, the Weddles were blessed with another son, Lucas, who is 9 years old now and is affectionately referred to as “Little Mayor.” 

And all the while, as they continued to build their family, Victoria and Randall were also going to school and working on building up their businesses. Randall worked for FedEx while living in Indiana, where they began buying trucks and warehouses to begin their reverse logistics company. The couple also began investing in real estate.

With a strong desire to move back, and in hopes of bringing job opportunities along with them, Randall and Victoria packed up their family and made the move back to their roots in 2019.

“We’ve always loved this area, especially London,” Victoria said. “After Randall lost his father and us losing a son, it made us want to be home.”

“99% of the people here are just amazing people and I wanted Lucas to really experience that type of community,” Randall said of the move.

As someone who grew up with two single parents who struggled from time to time, Randall knew the importance of bringing life-sustaining career opportunities to his community.

“We've never forgotten where we come from,” he said. “I remember not being able to pay my water bill—you don't forget those days.

“You see people struggling—and I never thought I was going to save the world, but I knew my work ethic, and I knew that I had a lot of relationships across the business world. I knew I could bring something different here and that I could try to help fight to bring industry here and create careers. And that's what I wanted.”

For several years, the Weddle family did just that, bringing businesses and new career opportunities to people all over this region, while also finding other ways to pour into their community through donations, hosting events and making meaningful connections with the people throughout the community. Over the years, the Weddles have helped to send many young people to college and donated local schools, pouring into the next generation of residents.

“I remember a time we were praying that we would have the money to pay our water bill or to even pay rent,” Victoria said. “Our life didn’t start off successful; we’ve had to build that. We’ve never forgotten where we came from and I know so many others had the same kind of story. That being said, we didn’t forget where we came from.

“We’re thankful for the struggles that we had and we’re thankful that we’re able to help people—not handouts, but maybe a hand up to let them know that they’re loved and that they’re not alone because there’s been times in our lives, we felt that and I think it’s our duty. It’s a mission in this life to give back when you’ve been blessed whether your blessings are big or small—it’s our duty.”

“We should be leaving a mark on everybody we encounter,” Randall said. “We should leave people better than what we have found them.”

Eventually, Randall started thinking about how he could reach even more people in the community and began his mayoral campaign. His message resonated with many in the city, and Randall officially took office in January 2023.

“My focus has always been the ones who never had a voice,” he said. “I don't care what part of this town you live in or who you come from or whatever. And that's what I wanted is to make everybody feel like they're a part of this community and that they matter to this office—to try to create an environment for them that they feel important.”

Coming into office, the mayor and his family knew what kind of a sacrifice they would be making.

“And we all agreed to do it together,” he said. “But there is a balance in that. I've got to make sure that I'm giving enough time to the city because I was voted to do that and I gave a promise there. Owning multiple companies and always having a family, I've been able to navigate quite well, and my family is really understanding that some days as mayor, I may need to work 16 hours, some days it's just an eight-hour day.”

Outside of his mayoral duties, Victoria said there are a lot of things she wished that people knew about her husband and the heart he has for others. As London’s mayor, Randall doesn’t take a paycheck, he even buys his own paper for his office, and instead finds ways to give back to his town.

“With Randall, you get what you see,” she said. “He is honest and he loves people. His heart is huge and he is so passionate about everything he gets involved in. He, nor do I, want anything from London, only to see this place prosper and see people do well and everyone feel welcomed and loved.”

Randall said Victoria doesn’t enjoy the politics and honestly hates the spotlight, but she does enjoy spending time with community members and going to events where she can make face-to-face connections. Behind the scenes, Victoria continues to support the efforts the couple find most important and manages their real estate.

Randall’s 9-year-old son, however, loves being in the spotlight.

“Lucas loves every part about it,” he said. “That's why we call him the ‘Little Mayor.’ He would be at every event; I don't think he would leave this office.”

Though his other two children are grown up with babies of their own now, Randall hopes that they too can learn something from his and Victoria’s love for their community.

“I said this to my kids the other day, I said that life is like a book and the first 18 chapters we really don't get to control what goes in them, but every chapter after we get to write. And when I die, my last chapter, I want people to say that he loved. And that's it.”

This past year has likely been one of the hardest, not only for the mayor and his career, but also in the history of London, particularly with the devastating EF-4 tornado that ripped through the community in May.

The mayor and city staff were out within minutes after the tornado passed through, helping to put bodies onto stretchers, searching for people through the rubble and directing traffic. In the days following the tornado, Randall, city staff, emergency services and volunteers were set up at the London-Corbin Airport, taking donations and providing a place for people to come to haul and dump the rubble left behind from the tornado.

“I don't think we slept for five days,” Randall said. “We stayed out there making sure that people had what they need.”

In the days, weeks and months following the tornado, Randall and the city staff have continued working with different organizations to provide ongoing support for tornado victims.

“When tough times come to this community, we rise and we’re there for one another,” Randall said. “The response from the tornado showed you what kind of people we have here living in this community. And that will forever be burnt in my mind. I've seen our people suffer; I've seen things I've never seen in my life that night. But seeing the sun come in the next morning and the amount of love that poured into this community—that will probably be the highlight of my career as mayor.”

Looking ahead at the new year, the Weddles are hoping to put the struggles of 2025 behind them and hope to work towards a better future for their family and their community.

“I hope that London sees the love that me and Victoria and the Weddle family has for everyone here in this county and lets us finish what we started,” he said. “I want to continue to give people a voice and continue to fight for the people that don't have one.”

When Randall does hang up his mayor hat for the last time, whenever that may be, he and his wife plan to continue pouring their hearts and souls into London and its people, just as they have been.

“We want to fade back into the background and do what we've been doing,” Randall said. “And we do it because we just generally love people.”