Francis Roy Donnelly

Francis “Roy" Donnelly was born on December 28, 1925 in Richmond Hill, New York to the late Frank & Violet Donnelly. He grew up on Michigan Avenue in Long Beach, NY with his two younger brothers who predeceased him, Bobby and Carroll, and graduated from Long Beach High School. He had a slew of cousins who he also grew up with and he was the humor ringleader of the bunch. It was not uncommon for Roy and his brother, and/or an occasional cousin or two, to “borrow” his Dad’s police car or relocate a motorcycle patrolmen’s vehicle.

Directly after High School, Roy voluntarily enlisted in the Navy during WWII, serving amongst a variety of aircraft carriers in the Pacific theater. Most notable was his beloved CV-21, the USS Boxer, for which he was a Plank Owner. Although he wanted to fly, his eyesight did not meet Navy requirements, so he was a plane handler and aviation mechanic. After the war, he was honorably discharged on the 25th day of May 1946.

Upon returning to Long Beach, he pursued his dream to attend private flight school at the Seaplane Base in Island Park. It was here that he not only achieved his pilot's license (before his car license); but also met the love of his life, Elizabeth “Bette” DeGraaf who lived in the only house next to the school. Wanting to impress her, he had no qualms about turning his plane sideways to buzz through the goalposts at Oceanside High School where she attended; or flew UNDER the Verrazano Bridge upside-down waving his wings at her while she watched. They were married on September 24, 1950 and then in 1953 moved into their home in Island Park and lived there until 2011before moving to Houston, Texas near Troy

Roy loved Bette and his family, as well as their life-long friends who were either hunting or going to air-shows or attending train exhibits with him. Additionally, there were numerous weekend get togethers with their Korean friends who were more like an extended family. Above and beyond, his greatest love was his trains! He became known as the Trainmeister to all because of his trains he set up every year during Christmas and then, after retiring, went and built a complete train layout in his backyard which was shared with everyone; especially with his many grandchildren. Roy had an unwavering zest for life, such as one night many years ago hiding outside at 2 a.m. with his son Keith so that they could ambush one of Troy's, friends who would annually “borrow” or rearrange the outside Christmas soldier decorations as a practical joke. There was also his post-retirement volunteer role with Long Beach City Hall, whereas he would slip Pro-Republican flyers into the Long Beach Pro-Democratic newsletters. He got away with it for years before coming clean to everyone after permanently retiring. Even after relocating with Bette to Houston in 2011, his moniker changed sightly to “Trainmeister in Texas,” but he still carried on in his role as leader of the pack. He wound up earning the unofficial “Mayor” title of the Assisted Living facility for his role in instituting Friday night Happy Hours to the delight of all his neighbors. He was always known for bringing down one of his beer steins to fill up during the Oktoberfest party, or by donning his 2 foot tall leprechaun hat for the St Patty’s Day gathering. He will always be remembered as a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, Uncle, Godfather, Patriot, and friend to everyone. He was best summed up by two of Troy's friends as “a funny nice man" and "a great American."

Roy is survived by his bride of almost 66 years, Bette; his son Troy and wife Karen; grandchildren Pascal and wife Lena, Dennis, Elaine and husband Patrick, Jenna, an extended Vanessa in Germany, and also Keith and Kevin; great-grandchildren Jill, John, Jason, and Zoe