Of Annandale, VA, and formerly from State College, PA and Cambridge, England, died Thursday, February 25, 2021 at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Born April 23, 1942, in Tipton, England, he was the only son of Sarah Ellen Burns and Frederick Willis. On July 25, 1964, at Saint Marks Church, Tipton, West Midlands, he married Elaine Willis, who died in 2008. They were high school sweethearts, married 43 years, and had two children: James, who lives in Burke, Virginia with his wife, Melissa, and granddaughters, Sophie and Emma; and Kate Willis Hochstrasser, who lives in The Hague, in the Netherlands, with her husband, Michael, and grandson, Nicolas. In 2009, Roy married Carmen Wright-Willis, who survives him. Carmen has two daughters, Alison Wright, who lives in Tahoe, Nevada, and Erika Wright Maalouf, who lives with her husband Matt, and two granddaughters, Ivy and Violette, in Concord, Massachusetts.
Roy graduated from Cambridge University in England with a Ph.D. in Physics in 1967. He began his career as a scientist at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands, before returning to Cambridge University in 1979. He continued to conduct research at the Cavendish Laboratory and was a Fellow of Clare College. In 1987, he left Cambridge University and emigrated with his family to the United States to take a position as Professor of Physics at The Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State, he was honored with an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Visiting Scientist Award. Roy retired in 2014 after 27 years of teaching and research. He enjoyed traveling with Carmen, especially to Mexico, spending time with his family, watching Aston Villa and the British Premier League, and talking about physics. Roy was proud of his Black Country roots, pragmatic and good-natured, and he felt blessed to have lived such a long and full life. There will be a private funeral service, before Roy is laid to rest in Fairfax Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made online to St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital.
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