Roy Elliott

Roy Allen Elliott, age 66, a resident of Ontario Canada, and Gulfport, Mississippi, made his graceful exit and passed away peacefully at home on Friday, December 3, 2021.

Roy was born in 1955, in Toronto, Ontario to Bernita Rogers and George Elliott, and his leaving has left a hole in the hearts of his family. He will lovingly be remembered by his wife, Carol (Powley); former wife and friend Wendy Lobban (Abel); his children: Ashley (Josh Fleming), Brandon (Adrienne), Breanna, and Caitlin; and the four special grandchildren that he doted on, loved to read to, and dance silly with: Kennedy that was always so caring, his identical twins Harper and Juliette who had an ice cream date night every Wednesday with Grandpa, and wee bouncing Madelyn, that loved her Grandpa’s hugs.

Roy will be forever remembered by his children for being available for them when needed no matter how far they traveled. His love of dancing to loud music, 1963 T-Bird car, golfing, hogging the TV remote control while only letting everyone watch the shows he liked, being obsessed with the way his hair was brushed, knocking down the supporting wall during a random renovation, causing everyone to run out of the house screaming due to the falling ceiling, and ever so patiently, not even blinking, when a surprise new animal was brought home. There was not a day without a good laugh, and him saying to call him whatever you want, but don’t call him late for dinner.

Roy was very active, and proud that each of his children displayed a skill at a sport in which he could always be the most embarrassing, loudest parent cheering them on in the stands.  He loved the precious time alone with them when driving to all the events, and if they managed to get him to turn down the loud music, they always got their personal private time together.  He was excited that a mere four-hour drive one way to Ohio meant he was able to spend time with Ashley in order to watch her volleyball games, as no drive was too long for him if it meant seeing one of his children.

Many early mornings were spent driving Brandon to the rink.  He loved these mornings.  Game days with Brandon, and his own pick-up hockey nights with his longtime friends, were the highlight of his week.  He flew last minute to Montreal for the sold-out game, sat in his visiting team assigned family seat, and admittedly cried like a baby when he saw his own last name “ELLIOTT” on the back of that Tampa Bay NHL hockey jersey enter the ice for the very first time.

With his marriage to Carol, came the attempted transition period in life from Toronto city slicker to country boy.  It was a big change, and his obsession with making the country lawn appear as though it was a manicured golf course wasn’t working so well.  The angst of cutting the fields of grass was quickly gotten over when Roy appeared home with a shiny new tractor and the first feature he pointed out with a big smile, was the cupholder.  He then had a regular routine of making sure that cupholder was filled and disappearing down the rural road for hours cutting all the random grass and unsupervised lawns he could find.  He had such a proud grin when he was included in the search party for the neighbor’s escaped bull, grabbing a flashlight and a coil of rope over his shoulder and then eagerly asking what he needed to do when he caught it, made all the farmers roll with laughter.  Roy always pitched in despite knowing absolutely nothing about farm life, and rapidly became accepted by the experienced farmers.

Roy even took horseback riding lessons just for his kids, towering above both Breanna and Cait, since he was the only adult in the class.  He willingly loaded up and drove the horse trailer to every event, patiently watching the kids exhibit his own determination.

He missed, and often spoke of his older brother Ron (Sue) and the many long-distance conversations that were had, and the texting with longtime friend John Hickson during all the hockey games about all the bad shots made always made him feel that nothing had ever changed for him.  You were both such a strong support and encouragement for him.

To Roy’s Elliott Homes family and customers, you were his source of strength and joy.  He wanted to participate in all the zoom meetings and read every single one of your emails and texts right to the end even when he didn’t have the strength to respond.  You were his team, and he was your Roy Boy.

Roy was double diagnosed as one of less than 100 people in the world with F.O.S.M.N., and A.L.S. He diligently and bravely fought right to the end, and again, did it his way. He didn’t want a wheelchair, but instead made lots of laughs preferring an office chair on wheels to venture down sidewalks, and through parking lots. He never complained once and preferred to be entirely cared for by family instead of strangers coming into his home. The family would like to raise awareness of both these diseases, and in lieu of flowers, would encourage a donation to Augie’s Quest to help find a cure for A.L.S. ( https://augiesquest.org).

For the friends in Mississippi, please join the family for a Celebration of Life on Wednesday, December 8 at 5pm, at Riemann Family Funeral Home, 11280 Three Rivers Road, Gulfport MS 39503.

For the family and friends in Ontario, a Celebration of Life will be held in Ancaster, Ontario on Saturday, March 19 with details to come.