Harold Vernon Royer

Hal has joined Joana, his beloved wife of sixty years and eldest son Rex now held in the loving arms of God. Thanks to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hal, was born in Newton, Kansas to Reuben and Ada White Royer. The immediate family consisted of his sister Ruby and younger brother Donald Jack. A huge extended family, including fifty-one first cousins, provided support through "The Great Depression" and "The Dust-bowl" of the nineteen thirties in central Kansas.

Hal attended a one-room country school thru the eighth grade. His grandson's would roll their eyes when he told the story that he rode a pony several miles to a country school. He graduated from Newton High School in 1944. At age seventeen and a half he enlisted in the Army Air Corp. Discharged at the war’s end, he entered Emporia State college, where he graduated with the class of 1950.

In the summer of 1948 he met Joana Witherspoon They married in 1950 in the First Christian Church in Newton. They had three sons; Rex (Died 1964), Donald and Rick (wife Kit). Four grandsons; Donald H (wife Andrea), Brian (wife Michaela), Russell (wife Amber) and Ted (wife Kari). Four great-grandchildren; Caden, Danica (Princess), Tre and Aspen. Hal is also survived by several cousins, nephews and nieces. David Debevec (considered a son), and Dave's family who called him "Grandpa Hal."

Hal's career included working as a farm-hand, heavy equipment operator, fireman on a steam locomotive for the A.T.& S.F railroad, middle-school teacher, tool-maker and mechanical engineer for Beech Aircraft in Wichita and Boulder, CO.

The last twenty-eight years of his career he worked as a mechanical engineer for Ball Aerospace in Boulder. Known as "The Weights Guy" he was part of "The team" on nearly every satellite built by Ball over a span of 28 yrs. The most notable of these projects were the large cameras for "The Hubble Telescope."

An avid outdoors man and animal lover translated into Hal's hobbies of fishing, hunting, backpacking and horse-packing in the high country. These hobbies served him well for his other love, teaching boys to become men. As a dedicated scout leader for twenty-five plus years and boys baseball coach for thirty years, he gave his best!