Posted by Joe Cimoch on Thursday, November 07, 2002 at 5:25PM :
I've just lost a good friend. My father-in-law, Roy Hyland, passed away yesterday after a year long struggle with CLL (leukemia). You couldn't have asked for a nicer guy.
I got to know Roy well over the past 20 years. We spent a lot of time together since he lived just down the street. I could always count on him if I needed a hand, whether it was painting or moving, picking up his grand daughters, or walking the dog, there was never a question as to whether he would help. And he was the same way with everyone.
The man loved sports. He played baseball and basketball in high school, played basketball for Boston University, and even played basketball for the US Marine Corps, before shipping out to the Pacific theater in WWII. Ironically the only time he had ever been hospitilized before this, was as a result of being wounded on Saipan. I can remember him saying that being on the hospital ship enroute to a base in Hawaii, was a horrible experience. Maybe the thought of that is what kept him healthy all this time.
My kids absolutely adored this guy. He was Santa Claus to them every day of the year. He made time for every event, no matter when or where, he was happy to see them. In a way, he was still like a little kid when he played with them, and I know they appreciated that. He took them fishing, showed them how to start his 6HP Johnson outboard motor, and let them drive his big old wooden boat around the lake.
We used to kid him about his lottery habits. He had a thing for scratch tickets. He would always drive down our road with a ticket on top of the steering wheel in his truck, scratching the thing as he drove, eyes down looking at the ticket like there was some kind of RADAR guiding him along. Luckily he never hit anything or anyone. One day his wife gets a call from a neighbor saying "Is Roy OK? I noticed he has been sittng in the driveway for a long time with his head on the steering wheel, and it doesn't look like he's moving". Well his wife runs out in a panic, rips open the truck door and
starts screaming. There was Roy, scratching away at a fistful of tickets, so intent on hitting the mother lode, he wasn't stopping until that pile was done.
We just celebrated his 79th birthday on Sunday, and he was looking forward to his 55th wedding anniversary on Nov. 11th, hoping to be back home by then. But instead, we'll be celebrating his life, remembering all the good times we shared with a great man who touched our lives. We're going to miss you Dad.
Follow Ups: