A Tribute by Roger Ekins
A “sensitive drill instructor” may sound like an oxymoron, but Roy Raymond Striley was a most wonderful contradiction: simultaneously sweet as honey and tough as nails. Since his passing on May 1st, at the age of 72, Jacksonville has not been quite the same. Funeral services were held May 5th at the Bellinger building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Seeking a structured and disciplined way of life, Roy joined the Marine Corps at the age of 17. Although he seldom spoke of his experiences in Viet Nam, one involved taking out a sniper who had killed several of his buddies by jumping into the sniper’s foxhole with a 12-gauge shotgun. Afterwards, rather than boasting of his heroism, Roy was found crying like a baby. “That was someone’s son, someone’s brother,” he lamented. Both tough and sweet: that was Roy.
Roy served two tours in Viet Nam (where he received the Purple Heart), and later provided aid to victims of Hurricane Katrina and participated in missions to Afghanistan. In his continuing service with the Oregon Army National Guard, including a stint as a drill instructor, he rose to the rank of Command Sergeant Major—the highest enlisted rank in the Army. In all, he gave forty years to his country.
Returning to his tender side, Roy was baptized in the South China Sea into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. His most recent calling in the Jacksonville congregation—which he carried out masterfully right up to his death—was Coordinator of Community Services. If members needed help moving in or out of the Jacksonville area, or if a widow was in need of firewood, Roy was the go-to guy to make sure it got done. And he never asked anyone to do something he wasn’t willing to do himself.
Roy’s commitment to the wider community included building houses for homeless veterans with the Hope Village and providing refuge for women and children at the Parker House Project. Roy owned about every tool known to humankind and as a self-made business owner and leader in the lighting and electrical industry he knew how to use them.
For 27 years Roy was married to Patricia Dianne Huffman, with whom he had eight children, also leaving 4 stepchildren, 10 grandchildren, and 13 step-grandchildren. Since 2013 he was married to Vickie Sanders, with whom he had a very special and loving relationship. They had a “secret” code between them—squeezing one another’s hand three times to signify “I love you.”
In his final minutes—apparently heavily sedated and unresponsive—as Vickie held his hand, he suddenly opened his eyes, turned to her, looked deeply into her eyes, and gave her those three squeezes. And with that he passed to the other side of the veil where he is doubtless still jumping out of airplanes, riding his Harley, and being of tender, loving service to others.