52 Ancestors - Curiosity/Branching Out

I am joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors Writing Project.  The prompt was curiosity last week and this week is branching out. I think I covered both.

I don't like my ancestry tree to have people who are known to be dead not to have death dates.  I particularly don't like it when it is a person who has no known spouse or children. The least we could do is remember them on our tree, right.

Roy Hoyt is one such person on my tree is actually my mom's 1st cousin twice removed. I had to do quite a bit of digging to find the death date and actual burial place for Roy. Of all of his siblings, he had no death date and very little information in my tree. So, I was curious what my research would turn up. My search led me to his obituary in the Villisca Review. I want to share his story below. 

Roy Hoyt was born September 10, 1898, in Cumberland, Iowa to Alanson and Mary. he had 7 brothers and one sister. Roy was the oldest son. According to the census, Ray had a 7th grade education. 

He lived in Cass County near the town of Union working his father's farm according to the 1920's census. His father, Alanson, died in 1921. In the 1930 census, Roy is living with his mother, Mary, and his brothers, Cecil, Ralph, Floyd, and Forest. Roy was listed as a laborer working odd jobs in Jackson, IA. In the 1940 census, Roy is listed as a laborer still living with his mother and 4 of his brothers, Raymond, Ralph, Floyd, and Forest. They are living in Villisca, IA. 

Roy has a WW2 bonus file, and he was drafted Sept 25, 1942, and discharged Mar 9, 1943. He never left the United States. Roy received $50 in WW2 service compensation. Roy's younger brother Raymond served in the Army from Oct 1942 - April 1943. His brother Forrest also served in World War 2. There is a story there, but I don't know what it is. Roy also has an Armed Service Graves Registration with little or no information.

Roy's mother Mary died in 1945. Mary was 73 and buried next to her husband in the Greenwood Cemetery in Cumberland, IA. 

In 1948, according to his obituary the last 11 years of his life he was employed by Mr. and Mrs. Harold Funt near Coburg Iowa as a farm laborer. Between 1958 and 1959 he lost 3 of his brothers and his sister, Ethel. He died November 23,1959 in Villisca, Iowa, at the age of 61 and I believe he was buried in Villisca, Rosehill cemetery. The obituary has the cemetery in Cumberland but there is no cemetery by the name Rosehill in Cumberland. However, the Rosehill cemetery in Villisca also has no listing for Roy. It is possible there is no headstone. It is also possible the listing is incomplete.

Roy was a lifelong bachelor and worked as a laborer most of his life.  He never married and had no known children. The last line of his obituary is as follows, Roy was a friend of everyone who knew him and will be greatly missed by all.