CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
RUSSELL E. “Rusty Earl” Roy
Russell E. “Rusty Earl” Roy, 77, died at 7:45 a.m., Saturday, May 4, 2013, at Countryside Convalescent Home. Although he lived at the Home for seven years, he was a lifelong resident of Jamestown, Pennsylvania.
Russell was born February 7, 1936, in Jamestown, Pennsylvania, to King C. and Minnie B. Wiser Roy.
A memorial service was held for Russell on May 25th at the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Church in Jamestown.
The following post is from interviews with Russ in 1997.
It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Entering Russell E. Roy’s soul, however, requires a different route.
Russell, a. k. a. Rusty and Russ, opens the window to his soul through poetic writing.
He began writing poems when his sister Alice Hoover, Mercer, asked him to write a table blessing for her bowling banquet. Although he wanted to help his sister he felt uncomfortable fulfilling her request because he opposes serving alcoholic beverages at bowling alleys. His way of helping Alice without compromising his own values was to write an appropriate allegorical poem, The Final Frame, through which he began opening the window to his soul.
Russ’s writing method is unique. He bypasses the common writing tools—pen and paper, typewriter and computer. Instead, he picks up a (more…)
Disability Doesn’t Mean Disabled: Two Role Models
Tags: All, All posts, COMMENTARY, Community, Contemplation, Disability doesn’t mean disabled, Everyday heroes, Heroes, Inspiration, Inspirational, Janice Greer obituary, Latest post, Life, Lifestream, Lifestyle, Memoir, Memories, Misc., Miscellaneous, Nyllis Gardner, Op Ed, Opinion, Reflections, Role models, Role models from the disability community, Russ Roy, Thoughts
CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
DISABILITY DOESN’T MEAN DISABLED:
TWO ROLE MODELS
After becoming legally blind, Janice Greer worked for a time as a typesetter and later sewed costumes for her children’s high school plays, according to her daughter Aimee Coleman and son Thomas Greer. Although both will miss their mother, who died from cancer on April 12, 2011, they will cherish the memories of her being a role model.*
Reading this Janice Greer’s obituary reminded me of two important people I’ve known on this journey called life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
One result of my parent’s divorce was that I was separated from my father’s family. I didn’t meet my paternal aunt, Nyllis Gardner, until I was well into adulthood. When I met her, was wheelchair bound and bedridden, and her hands were grossly distorted from arthritis. Yet she managed to hand stitch Barbie doll clothes for her church bizarre. She also made needlework items on plastic canvas.
Nyllis Gardner's hand-stitched Barbie Doll clothes
Watching her work made me realize what a struggle it was for her to create the many (more…)