Robert Graves Roy
1924 – 2018
Robert Graves Roy passed away early in the morning on December 16, 2018, in front of his loved ones. he was 94 years old.
Robert was born on February 7, 1924 in Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona to Edward and Priscilla (Graves) Roy. Robert grew up on the Roy Ranch in Oak Creek before electricity became widespread. He spent his early years roaming the hills with his brothers and sisters and swimming in Oak His Creek. He attended his school in Cornville from 1929 to 1938, later with his wife Virginia Greenwell, in a one-room apartment in Oak Creek, graduating from Clarkdale High School in 1942.
Robert enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an air cadet in December 1942, dreaming of flying. After completing his pilot training, Robert entered active service in the Asia-Pacific theater as a twin-engine night fighter pilot with the 6th Night Fighter Squadron flying his Widow a Northrop P-61 Black. After being discharged from the military in 1946, Robert worked as a cowboy and miner in the Valley, attended Arizona State University in Tempe, and served in the Air Force Reserves. On Mesa where he cowboyed with his father and an “oldtimer”.
Robert returned to active duty in September 1950 and served as a forward air traffic controller during the Korean War. In 1951, he was assigned to monitor the Operation Greenhouse nuclear test at Eniwetok Atoll.
After proposing to Virginia in April 1951, Robert left for Eniwetok. They married on 30 June 1951 at Greenwell Ranch in Oak He Creek and had a daughter, Beverly, born in March 1952. Robert retired from active service in November 1952 and after a total of nearly ten years in service, he devoted himself to his studies.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1955 from Arizona State University in Tempe. He received his Master of Science in Genetics from the University of Wisconsin in 1956 and completed his Ph.D. In 1959 he received his bachelor’s degree at the same institution. He began his academic career at the University of California, Davis in 1959 and retired from the University of Kentucky in 1987.
As in his early days, he was a jockey throughout his career and had many friends and colleagues in the Thoroughbred industry.
Robert and Virginia raised a family of five children and had a wonderful 67-year marriage together, spending time in Tempe, Arizona, Madison, Wisconsin, Davis, California, and Lexington, Kentucky. They maintained a strong connection to their Verde Valley heritage and eventually returned to their Oak He Creekside roots, where they spent their final years surrounded by family and the beauty of the Verde Valley.
The family cherishes the memory of Robert’s serene presence and his humble wisdom. And God fills Himself in many ways And He himself wrote, The timeless beauty we love today is new and is repaired when changed. increase. Patience will pay off, probably not immediately when it comes to human life, but I’ve seen it happen in small ways in my short life.
Robert is survived by his parents, Ed and Priscilla Roy, with his wife Virginia and five children, Beverly Ruskin, Janet Roy-Haydon (Bryan), Kenneth Roy (Karin), Robin Shambach (David), Phyllis survived. McDaniel (Dan), nine grandchildren and his three great-grandchildren.
The family performed private services as he desired. You can donate to his merwinconservancy.org in his memory.
Information provided by family.
