Harold
Roey
July 15, 1941 – September 18, 2013
Hal Roey passed
away with complications from a severe stroke.
Spoiling and
enjoying his grandchildren was his joy and pleasure. Hal enjoyed travelling with
his wife, Nan, of 50+ years, who survives him as well as their three sons;
Dave, Mike and Steve, and 7 grandchildren; Ashlen,
Jessica, Dillon, CJ, Tyler, Canela and Elica.
Hal was a
Procurement Officer in the US Air Force and was most recently employed at SETI
Institute. He spent 50+years as an aerospace contracts specialist and mgr. He
was a lifetime member of San Jose Elks lodge 522.
Hal will be
remembered as a loving and devoted husband, caring father and wonderful and fun
grandpa to his grandchildren and extended family. His sense of humor,
compassion and positive upbeat attitude will be missed but remembered fondly in
the hearts of all who knew him.
Friends are
invited to attend a Funeral Service Saturday, Sept. 28, 2013 at 9:00a.m at LIMA
& CAMPAGNA SUNNYVALE MORTUARY, 1315 Hollenbeck Ave., Sunnyvale. Donations
can be sent in lieu of flowers to the San Jose Elks Major Project or the Palo
Alto VA Hospital.
Alan,
just a note about Harold Roey and the influence that he had on my life as a
young man growing up in West Natick. I remember the day that we both got off the
school bus on Hartford street., ( 1957 ) and as we
were walking home, he saw a package that the mailman had left hanging
on the mailbox. He was so excited seeing the package, apparently he knew
that it was for him. He ran the last few steps to get it and then he invited me
into his house to show me what he got. He was so happy. He belonged to the Book
of the Month club and when he opened the package, out dropped all kinds of
books, colorful brochures and book offers. This was a side of Harold that I
never knew, because in West Natick at that time, the guys that we hung
with knew only two things, cars and girls. Books ???
Are you kidding me ???
Well, he began to
tell me about the books he ordered and then he showed me the books he had in
his own room. He went from book to book and explained the plot of each book
and his passion for reading and books were so apparent in his enthusiasm
that I became excited listening to him. That day he opened a whole new page for
me. I remember that I asked him if it were possible for me to get a package of
books every month too. It sure was and he explained how. Well, I went home and
told my parents and they could not believe that I wanted to buy books. They
enrolled me in the Book of the Month club that very week.
From that day on,
I have been a passionate reader and right now I have cards from
5 different libraries.
As you know I
became an elementary school teacher and I remained in the class room for 40
plus years. Well, one of the things that I did every year was to have a
period of time, daily, when I called my class together. I would sit in my chair
with a pile of books and picture books surrounding me and I would talk to my
kids about the books, and tell them just enough about the plots
to challenge them to read the books themselves. Then I would read to them
and finally dismiss them to read by themselves. Private reading became even
more important than lunch for my class. And every year, I began the first day
of private reading with my story about the boy, Harold Roey who showed me the
joy of reading and that was why we will have private reading every day of our
school year. My class always loved books and reading. Thank
you Harold.
You drop a pebble
in the water and you never know how far the ripples will go.
Irwin Fischer -
Classmate