Royce A. Hinton

CHAMPAIGN - Our father, grandpa, uncle and friend, Royce A. Hinton, passed away on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2022, at ClarkLindsey in Urbana.

He was the son of Verne and Elizabeth Hinton and older brother to Anita Hinton Ulery.

He is survived by four of his five children, Jo Perkins (Greg) of Champaign, Meg Hinton (Jean Bernier) of Kelowna, British Columbia, Reid Hinton of Danville and Amy Darling (Jeff) of Kansas City, Mo. Royce was pleased to be the grandfather of 11 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Jean Coon Hinton, and his oldest daughter, Mary Beth Norton. 

A proud Fisher Bunny, Royce was the valedictorian of his high school Class of 1943. He was a World War II veteran, serving in the European theater from September 1944 to April 1946. He attended the University of Illinois for his undergraduate and master's degrees, where he was awarded the Bronze Tablet for academic honors. He married Jean Coon and together with their two oldest daughters, the family moved to Minnesota, where he completed his Ph.D. in agricultural economics at the University of Minnesota.

In 1955, the family returned to Champaign, where Royce began his career at University of Illinois in agriculture extension and worked until his retirement. A lifelong Illini sports fan, he could be found attending Illini basketball games at the Assembly Hall or at tournaments in Hawaii, enjoying the sun and festivities at the Rose Bowl football game, hoping for that ever-elusive win or cheering on the women's volleyball games at Huff Gym on a Friday night. He was an avid handball player, golfer, bowler (bowling into his 90s) and, along with wife, Jean, bridge player. 

Royce was a strong believer in education, and ensured that annual summer vacations were learning opportunities. He was known to read to us from his green book of soils as we drove across the country and quiz us on the type of farm equipment we passed or types of dairy cows at the county fair. Sunday dinners often included a discussion on the Rev. Nygren's three-point sermon.

A product of his generation, what he lacked in emotional language, he more than made up for by showing up for his family every day. By example, he taught us to be responsible, work hard, be thrifty and save for the future, embrace education, honor our careers, laugh, be loyal, drive as though you have no brakes and roll a stop sign. We will miss hearing him say "essentially," "gosh" and "Jean."

Our thanks to the many wonderful staff at ClarkLindsey for their gentle and expert care of Dad for the past two years, as well as the staff at Evergreen Place for their care of both Mom and Dad.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at Royce's home church for the past 65 years, First Presbyterian Church of Champaign, 302 W. Church St., Champaign. There will be an opportunity to greet the family from 10 to 11 a.m. prior to the memorial service, and a reception following the service.

Memorials may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Champaign or the American Diabetes Association.

Condolences may be offered at morganmemorialhome.com.