Roy was my oldest friend. I’ve known him since 3rd grade in St. Hugh. I knew his cousins from when I went to St. Teresa in 7th and 8th grade. In high school Roy was one of the best friends I had that helped Save my life. I’ve been through a lot and without my friends I don’t know how I would have made it. I feel like Roy was a better friend to me than I ever was to him. Every time I needed him. He was there. When I was down, he lifted me up. Roy never asked much of his friends. Maybe to get him something to drink while he was comfortably sitting (Laze). He was the one that named me Pep. Everyone asked him why. He said that I had a pep in my step when I walked lol  I haven’t hung out with Roy in Years but he was Always and will Always be my brother. My son Matthew lost his mom 2 years ago to a seizure. She was 36 years old, my son was 9. I was recommended a place called Tomorrow’s Rainbow. It’s the Only place I know in South Florida that specializes in children grieving from a loss of a parent. It’s equestrian and group based and it helped my son when he was feeling alone when it came to his feelings. I believe it’s in coconut creek. Any questions or Anything you need. 

Jorge Salup
786-200-2318

R.I.P. Roy, thank you for being in my life. God bless your family 💔🩵🙏🏼

Part 3 of 3 (cont).
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I last saw Roy years after we worked together when he was a manager of a Chase branch near the beach, the very stomping grounds he used to promote clubs in on Friday nights.   Roy was excited to start his own business and I was incandescently happy when I saw that he did.  I too graduated from the drive-thru and became a lawyer.  Many of my own co-workers did not think I could do it, and honestly, most of the time I did not think I could do it myself.  But Roy always thought I could and for that I am forever grateful.

The bank building where many of us met Roy on the corner of 27th avenue and Coral Way no longer stands.  It was torn down years ago and replaced with another building where other people will make their own memories.  But for me, I do not need to see the building to know that it existed or remember the feelings that I had in it.  That is how I think of Roy now; I cannot see him but I will not forget that he existed and how he made me feel.  

Thank you for everything, Roy Roy Roy.   I am still looking up to you.

Part 2 of 3 (cont) 

I always looked forward to working with Roy on Saturdays because I knew the tedious work day came coupled with an exciting story of what he did the night before.  

Years rolled by and with that came change:  Washington Mutual became Chase and Roy went from teller to Assistant Manager.  However, a constant was always his father.  I vividly remember meeting Joseph and seeing where Roy inherited his size and demeanor.  While he was an imposing presence, Joseph would often show up to the bank and Roy would leave the teller line to go to him. His father would smile and kiss him on the cheek.  This was met with Roy being sheepishly embarrassed and playfully tolerating his father’s adoration.  Joseph always looked at Roy with nothing but pride, much in the same way I imagine Roy would end up looking at his own children years later.  Joseph is Roy’s middle name, but to Roy, I know that Joseph came first.    Knowing what we know now, I cannot help but find a small sliver of comfort in knowing that Joseph and Roy were apart for only a fraction of a moment.  

Funerals and wakes are sad, but I never fail to find solace in them.  I have learned to make them moments where you share stories about the people you lost and have loved.  They are an opportunity to learn something new about people who can no longer share their own stories.  For example, Roy really loved John McCain and would chastise me whenever I made jokes about him.  I hope people take the opportunity to turn Sunday’s wake into a celebration of Roy’s life and all the great memories we have with him.

Apologies for this long post, but I wrote a lot and had to break it up into two parts:

For Roy.

If I were to define what my love language is, I would say that I express love by teasing and annoying people.  In my ten years of working at Washington Mutual and Chase, I made it a point to annoy and tease Roy Hallak relentlessly-  more than I ever annoyed anyone else.  

I first met Roy when I was 16 and hired as a high school intern at Washington Mutual.  It was my first legitimate job and I was nervous, if not a little scared.  I was lucky to be surrounded by good people that lifted me up;  Roy was front and center in that group of people.  

And how could he not be, Roy is a huge man.  He is a refrigerator of a man.  He is one of the biggest people I have ever met in my life.  His driver’s license says he is 6’01” but that is probably a lie.  To me, he is as tall as the ceiling in the tiny drive thru structure that we worked in together and just as wide.  For reference, the drive-thru covered three lanes.  I had no choice but to look up to him.

I know Roy in a particular place and time.  Many people know Roy as a child and some as the responsible adult he eventually became: a husband and a father with his own business.  I know Roy in the colorful corridor of his 20s, a decade that most of us would probably admit does not find us at our best, but at our most interesting and effervescent.  

If Roy was one thing, Roy was always fun.

Roy was also usually hungover on Saturday mornings.  I spent many a Saturday covering for him in the morning shift we shared in the drive-thru.  The 8am call time was challenging for Roy sometimes because he was out the night before hosting a party or a theme night at some club on the beach.  He also always had people over at his apartment and it seemed to be ground zero for debauchery and fun.  Roy really loved being around people and people loved being around Roy (including myself).

OBITUARIO

Roy Joseph Hallak

2 noviembre, 1979 – 3 agosto, 2024

Caballero Rivero Hialeah

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