- Date Of Birth: November 28, 1923
- Date Of Death: October 16, 2012
- State: Indiana
Roy died at his Bloomington home, which he shared with his daughter, on Tuesday, Oct. 16. Roy was born in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in 1923. He spent most of his childhood and youth on the family farm located in the Moberly, Missouri, area (Ash and Madison). He worked on his family farm with his five siblings, plowing fields behind Jiggs, the family mule, and hunting with his brother, Sam. At an early age, he became curious about how things worked and learned to make radios from scraps found in the barn.
He installed electricity in his parents’ home and used the fence wire to create a telephone connection to a neighbor. He could repair anything. After graduating from high school in Madison, Missouri, Roy served in WWII with the Signal Air Corp attached to the U.S. Army. He entered Europe by way of the beaches of Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After the war, he met and married his wife of 62 years, Dorothy Brazeal. Roy entered the University of Missouri under the G.I. Bill while Dorothy worked in the administrative office. They saved pennies to enable Roy to graduate from the University of Missouri with a degree in Electrical Engineering. After graduation, he and Dorothy moved to Mishawaka, Indiana, where Roy worked for many years as an engineer at Bendix. They raised their children in Mishawaka.
He was a devoted dad who built stilts and a skateboard for his children. He installed a Plexiglas window in a wooden rowboat so they could watch the fish. In 1970, Roy and Dorothy moved to Bloomington where Roy worked as an engineer at the Crane Naval center. After retirement, Roy and Dorothy traveled throughout the United States in their RV, visiting most of the national parks of the western U.S. When not traveling, they loved refinishing and making furniture. Dorothy would buy a broken down piece of furniture; Roy would reassemble it; and together they would refinish this new treasure for their children and grandchildren. Many of these beautiful furniture pieces are now cherished possessions.
Roy also made many pieces of furniture from “scratch,” creating beautiful tables from a walnut log. Roy loved seeing things grow. Throughout his life, he and Dorothy had a large garden. And, how he loved his sweet corn! In 2006, they moved to the eastside of Bloomington. Although he had to give up large gardens, he grew beautiful flowers and walked around the outside of the house regularly to inspect and tend to the various bushes and plants. In recent years, Roy accepted with grace the challenge of declining health and the death of his wife. It is hard to sum up a man’s life in a few words.
To have known Roy is to have known an extraordinary ordinary man. His life reflected his core values: kindness, humility, grace, forgiveness, gratefulness, loyalty, honesty, courage, and integrity. Family always came first. He was devoted to his children and grandchildren and, most of all, to his wife, Dorothy. Roy was predeceased by all five of his siblings, his wife, Dorothy, in 2009, his son, Kevin, in 1985, and his granddaughter, Kate, in 2004.
He is survived by two daughters: Nancy Comiskey (Steven) of Nashville, Indiana, and Barbara Hudson of Bloomington (formerly from Kensington, Maryland). He is also survived by his grandson, Daniel Comiskey (Kayla Goodfellow) of Indianapolis. Special thanks to Roy’s kind physicians and their staffs and to his compassionate caregivers (especially Elder Care Connection). These individuals worked together as a team that enabled Roy to remain at home (as he so desired) throughout the final year of his life.
