Roy Allen Lessly

Roy Allen Lessly, aged 88, passed away on Friday, 30 November 2012, at Blue Ridge Nursing Home in Martinsville, Virginia, where he was a temporary resident. A 3:00 PM service will be held at McKee-Stone Funeral Home in Martinsville, Virginia, on Tuesday, 4 December 2012. The Martinsville-Henry County Honor Guard will be assisting the service. Roy was born 3 June 1924, the only child of George Leroy Lessly and Elizabeth Almina Ratherford Lessly, in Higbee, Missouri, a rural Missouri coal-mining town. Roy enlisted on 11 December 1942 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri in the Army-Air Corps, serving in WWII as a radar and high-altitude bombing instructor. He took Basic Training at Camp McCoy, Wisconsin; radar training at Truax Field, Wisconsin; and other training at Boca Raton, Florida. Tech Sergeant Roy Lessly was honorably discharged on 31 January 1946 at Barksdale Field, Shreveport, Louisiana. He received the following medals: American Theatre Campaign Ribbon, Victory Ribbon, and Good Conduct. Roy was especially proud that his family is a four-generation Army family including him, his daughter, late son-in-law, his grandson, his grandson-in-law, and his great-grandson. Roy was a graduate of Kirksville Teacher’s College (now Truman State) in Kirksville, Missouri, in 1950 with a Master’s Degree in English. Throughout his teaching career, he attended several other colleges for professional development. He was proud of the fact that he and his mother, Elizabeth Lessly, graduated the same day from Kirksville Teacher’s College and that his daughter, Phyllis Lessly Fleming, graduated from the same college when it was Northeast Missouri State University. Roy was a member of Fieldale United Methodist Church in Fieldale, Virginia. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a grandson, Donald Allen Shackett; a son-in-law, 1SG Donald Shackett; and a great-granddaughter, Emma Nicole Dunwoody. Roy is survived by his wife, Doris Lee Adcock Lessly, of the home. They had been married 66 years. He is further survived by his daughter, Phyllis Jean Lessly Fleming and her husband, Stanford J. Fleming, of the home; his granddaughter, Brenda Jean Shackett Dunwoody currently deployed in Afghanistan and her husband, Major James Robert Dunwoody currently stationed in Korea; his grandson, 1SG Kelly Lee Shackett currently deployed in Afghanistan and his wife Lesley Cassell Shackett of Martinsville, Virginia; great-grandchildren: 2LT Robert Allen Dunwoody, Amber Lee Shackett, Christopher Connor Dunwoody, and Hannah Renee Shackett, all of Martinsville, Virginia; a brother-in-law, David Adcock and his wife of Weatherford, Texas; and nieces, nephews, and cousins. He retired from Springfield School District 186 in Springfield, Illinois, after over 30 years of service. He taught English at Springfield High School. Additionally, he taught English classes as an adjunct instructor at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, Illinois. Roy loved his family, Mark Twain novels, Shakespearean plays, baseball, laughter, western movies, and teaching. He lived and taught by the following Mark Twain quotation: Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. This quotation sums up the man who was Roy Allen Lessly, beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and mentor to many students. Collins-McKee Funeral Home in Martinsville, Virginia, is handling all arrangements. The family will receive friends from 6:00-8:00 PM, Monday, 3 December 2012, at McKee-Stone Funeral Home and at other times at his daughter’s home at 705 Ferndale Drive, Collinsville, Virginia. Online condolences may be sent to http://www.collinsmckeestonemartinsville.com.