Roy lived the most amazing life and will be remembered and loved forever by all those whose lives he touched.
He was born June 15, 1951 in Waco, Texas to Alma Louise Ashleman and Roy Dell Walthall Jr. Alma was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. Roy Jr. worked for the M.K.T. Railroad in Bellmead, which fueled a lifelong passion for trains in his son. Roy was adored by his three older sisters Ellen Carver, JoAnn Bowden, and Royce Adelle Christman and grew up loving his nieces and nephews as dearly as his own siblings. His older sisters parented and paraded little 'Butch' around as the La Vega Pirate Mascot, while in the 3rd grade little 'Butchy' served as the inspiration for several short episodes of the Mickey Mouse Club in the character of Muchy the Little Leaguer.
With a sense of deep responsibility and pride Roy was the first in his immediate family to ever attend college in the fall of 1969. At UT Arlington, he was very proud to be elected the Parliamentarian of the student body and began his lifelong dedication to public service, government, and politics. Roy was a member of the ROTC through high school and college, and was eventually accepted into UTA's elite pilot training program.
In 1973, Roy was asked by Representative Lane Denton (D-Waco) to serve as a legislative assistant in Austin. He cherished the time he was able to work on such pieces of legislation as 'right turn on red,' the Texas Open Records and Open Meetings Acts (which became the model for many other states and inspired the federal Freedom of Information Act) and Clerking for the State Constitutional Convention before being drafted to serve as a Huey Medivac pilot in the Army. He completed his training at Ft. Benning and Ft. Rucker, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant before being honorably discharged following a severe knee injury.
Roy used funding from the GI Bill to attend graduate school at East Texas State, where he earned a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He was selected, along with two hundred fifty other young leaders across the nation, to serve as a Presidential Management Intern under President Jimmy Carter, working at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. He served in the early 1980's as City Manager for the Central Texas cities of Meridian and Mart. During his stint in the latter, he met the love of his life, Dr. Tamra Hellen Weiss. Roy and Tamra married in 1984, and opened the La Vega Veterinary Clinic and the Bellmead-Timbercrest Times Newspaper together in 1986, in the building he constructed with the help of his father. He worked with the Texas Sesquicentennial Commission, presenting a slideshow of local history to a myriad of Central Texas Communities.
In the early 90's, Roy strove to bring High Speed Rail to Texas, liaising between the City of Waco and the Texas Triangle High Speed Rail Project, and even running for the state legislature twice. Roy pioneered the 'wishbone' route for the project, leading the charge for Waco to not only be one of the stops, but to become the central maintenance hub of the proposal. Working on that project allowed Roy to merge his lifelong interests in rail and politics, and to advocate on behalf of his hometown of Waco. When the project was terminated, he decided to move on to the next phase of his life.
Roy used his two decades of experience in politics as a foundation to enlighten over 7000 students to become better civic citizens, teaching Texas and American Government for twenty-seven years at McLennan Community College. Upon retirement, Roy set-out to finish what he started nearly fifty years ago in the Texas Legislature, rewriting the Texas State Constitution of 1876 with colleagues from MCC. He also wrote four books, supported his wife during her time as President of the Texas Veterinary Medical Association, and had the adventure of a lifetime going around the world in eighty days with Tamra. Throughout his teaching career and retirement, Roy stayed active with the Democratic Party. He testified before the legislature on redistricting, and was even named as one of thirty-four Democrats nominated to be a Presidential Elector in 2000 and 2004.
In his latter years, Roy offered his children the following advice: ''The 'arc of history' is always advancing for the better good of all mankind. Please have faith, future history has not been written; we are its current authors. Future souls of our planet will be its readers. Therefore, forever write for their posterity a testimonial that always expounds on hope, love, and charity. And as my beloved Daddy always preached to me, 'Strive to make this Good Earth a better place than the one you inhabited when you were born.'''
He is survived by his wife, Dr. Tamra Hellen Walthall; his daughter Telly Rae Ramsey, a teacher at University High School and McLennan Community College; his son Rydell Dexter Walthall, a Ph. D. student at UT-Austin; his granddaughter Winifred Thea Ramsey; godson Christopher Lammert; and nieces and nephews - Beverly, Walter, Warren, Donny, Judy, Joni, Danny, and Cheryl.
Roy's funeral will take place at the Bellmead funeral home on Tuesday, June 20 at 10:30 a.m., with internment following at Oakwood Cemetery. The family asks everyone to join them afterwards for a barbecue lunch and wake at the Bellmead Civic Center starting at 12:30 p.m.
Because education, and especially McLennan Community College was so important to Roy, the family asks for help in establishing a scholarship in his name for students with an interest in Government. Memorials may be made to the Roy Walthall Presidential Scholarship at the McLennan Community College Foundation, 1400 College Drive, Waco TX 76708, online at http://bit.ly/MCCFND21 or by phone at (254) 299-8604.