Roy John Apel

April 7th, 2015 at 8:10 in the morning, Roy John Apel passed away at the age of 87 in the city of Santa Clara, California. A native Californian, Roy was born in Long Beach, CA on April 30th, 1927 to John and Blanche Apel. Roy was one of 4 children, and is survived today by Lee Apel of Long Beach. After being raised in Long Beach, Roy attended a series of universities in California, beginning with Long Beach City College and ending up with a Master’s Degree in English Literature from Claremont Graduate University in 1957. Roy was a veteran of the US Navy during the Second World War; and on January 22, 1949 he and Paula Shaffer of New York married in Emporia, Kansas while both were students at the College of Emporia, in the same state where Paula’s father was born (Dodge City, 1903). Once married and after a spell as an oil field roustabout and Union Oil research technician, Roy joined the United States Foreign Service as an American diplomat, and he and Paula – along with their 5 children Douglas, David, Michael, Alison and Daniel – lived in a variety of European and Latin American countries, including Austria, Mexico, Germany, Guatemala, Canada, Colombia, and Venezuela. Roy’s travels served to bring to him and the family an enormously rich life overseas, though when he retired it was natural that he would return to California.

Roy will be seriously missed. His humor, deep religious beliefs, and love of adventure were infectious, and he has made friends throughout the world, all of whom have reached out to the Apel family after his death. Roy is survived by his wife Paula, his five children, 10 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandson who, true to the nature of his legacy, live all over the U.S. and around the world.

A memorial service will be held for Roy on Saturday, 3 p.m. at the Lima Family Center, and Roy will be interred at the Santa Clara Mission Cemetery.

A devotee of Shakespeare, Roy would have liked for us to remember the words Parting is such sweeter sorrow that I shall say good night till it be morrow.