Royce Virgil Polston

Royce Virgil Polston, 83, of Jabez, Kentucky, passed away peacefully next to his wife of 62 years Ruth Almogabar Polston in the early hours of Wednesday, October 14, 2026 in Round Rock, Texas. Royce was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and fishing buddy.

Royce Polston did not leave the same world he was born into. Born in a small family home in Russell County, Kentucky on October 9, 1943 alongside his twin sister Joyce, they were the seventh and eighth of nine children born to Virgil and Alverta Polston.

Life was unimaginably different then and there — more so than many of us can fathom. Daily chores would be seen as hard labor by modern standards. After completing his morning chores, Royce pushed a plow behind a mule from sun up to sun down for a summer job.

Royce lost his father at the tender age of 11. He was a wild boy in the hills of south central Kentucky. Rock fighting with rivals or stealing corn liquor from someone’s hidden stash were the types of trouble that would find him. He was a rascal, a fighter and loved the outdoors.

Around high school graduation, Royce wanted a new car and believed his family could afford it and owed it to him. When he didn’t receive this car, he enlisted in the Army against his mother’s wishes. He recounted his stubborn mindset of “nobody will tell me what to do so I’ll join the Army.” That decision took him from a small country one room school house in South Central Kentucky to a military base in South Korea.

This was his first time away from home, and he would describe the feeling of homesickness as the worst feeling he had felt in his life, so he turned to the bottle. He also found himself an outsider because of his country upbringing and lack of travel. Although his time in the Army was difficult, he did make some good friends and fondly remembered the time another country boy, named Johnny Cash, came to visit with him and the other troops over lunch.

After his time in Korea, he was stationed in Denton, TX where he found a love for shooting pool, Honky Tonks and his wife, Ruth (attending Texas Women’s University). He also had his first brush with history when his drinking got him locked up in Dallas jail in November of 1963 just a few cells down from Jack Ruby.

Once Royce and Ruth married, they returned to Ruth’s hometown of Austin, TX to start their family. Their daughter Cynthia was born in Austin in 1964. While they did move a little bit in the early years, Austin was home for this family of three.

In the following years, Royce found himself weaving in and out of American history once more. He was on campus the day Charles Whitman fired from the University of Texas Tower in 1966.

Royce worked for Austin News Agency as a delivery driver most of his career, and was loyal to Mr. Cochran, his employer, who treated him well. Delivering magazines seems mundane to most of us today, but Royce loved all the different people he got to interact with each day and the ability to define a task and complete it. The job also landed him once more in the middle of another historical event.

In 1971, an ex-police officer robbed the HEB in the Govalle Shopping Center. When my grandfather pulled up to make his delivery, he stopped right behind the police cars at the front as the perpetrator ran out. While trying to flee, the perp fired two shots at the police and they returned one with a shotgun to end the shootout. Royce witnessed the whole thing.

Royce’s favorite things in life were fishing and telling stories with family and friends. He would talk politics, religion, money if the conversation were to go there, but that’s not where he wanted to spend his mind or his time. He wanted to tell stories and jokes, go catch bait and wet a line. He enjoyed a good shower, air conditioning and a simple country meal after a good long day of fishing or working in the yard. The simple things in life made him feel like a king.

Volumes of books could be filled with Royce’s fishing stories, jokes, tall tales and brushes with history. His family, fishing buddies and anyone that talked to him for more than five minutes has a memory they will never forget. Royce was a character and true person through and through. The world changed, but he didn’t. Royce Polston did not leave the same world he was born into.

Royce is survived by his wife Ruth Almogabar Polston, daughter Cynthia (Kevin) Humphrey, his grandchildren Kevin D. (Allison) Humphrey, Julia Humphrey and Andrew (Carmina) Humphrey, great-grandchildren Moriah Spencer, Isaiah Spencer, Liam Humphrey and Walker Humphrey, as well as his longtime fishing buddies Al Ortiz, Sergio Bribiesca, Luis Escelante, Robert Adams, Dan Cisneros. He also leaves behind many wonderful neighbors and friends, as well as nieces and nephews and a few cousins.

Royce is preceded in death by his parents Virgil Polston and Alverta McGowan Polston, his siblings Pearl Dunbar, Finas Polston, Maxine LaFavers, Vontrice Polston, Gilbert Polston, Yvonne Johnson, Joyce Carrender, Leon Polston, and his longtime fishing buddies Manuel Frausto, Mike Perkins, Ferrel Gentry and Andy Ribera.

Please join us in remembering and celebrating the life of Royce Virgil Polston on Monday, October 26 at the Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home at 2620 S Congress Ave Austin, TX. Viewing will begin at 10am, Funeral Service at 12pm directly followed by burial at Assumption Cemetery. Fishing attire is welcome.