Roy Louis Batty

ROY LOUIS BATTY
Roy Louis Batty was born in Shram City, Illinois on January 13, 1941 to Wayne and Jeannette Batty and was baby brother to Emmett and Mary Anne. He went to be with Jesus on April 6, 2024. He was 83 years old.
In High School he was the quarterback and captain of the football team and after graduating, he served in the United States Airforce and then worked for Santa Fe Railroad for the next 43 years.
He married Nita Jo Benton in 1960 and they had three daughters.
Then on October 26, 1974 he married Darlene and her four sons. This October would have been their 50th anniversary.
He is survived by
His Wife: Darlene
His Children: Kristi, Tami, Viki, Damon, Darin, Devin and Dustin.
By His Grandchildren: Danielle, René Roy, Tyler, Ralston, Sutton, Brieann, Seth, McKayla, Luke, Payton, Rylee, Jaad, Ian and Ellis
And by his Great grandchildren: Lucy, Jubilee, Lavender, Marcus, Alexander, Henry, Myan, Royal, Harper, Mason and Kaia
His legacy
In 1980 he made the decision to follow Jesus as his Savior and he experienced a radical salvation. He began leading us in the ways of God and we began going to church as a family. I think of my dad when I read these words in Philippians chapter 2
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.". Philippians NIV
That was my dad. A man of few words, who let his "actions" speak FOR him.
He was a joyful, humble and kind man who loved to laugh. He taught us what forgiveness, love and honor, look like, simply by living it out as our example.
He worked hard his whole life to take care of our big family and none of us can ever remember even one word of complaint. When we would ask him how he was doing, He would always say: "I'm good!" Even when he was severely injured in a derailed train wreck, dragging the engineer out of the fire to safety and saving his life. He spent several weeks in the hospital, and when we visited him he simply said: "I'm good!"
When he retired, he and Darlene purchased an RV and traveled across the country going on adventures for the next 20 years. Which was perfect because he loved maps! After every trip I would ask him about it and he would always pull out his big paper maps and re-live the trip by going over the routes they took.
Greatest Achievement
But I think that his greatest achievement was that he took two families and knitted us together, creating a single family who truly loves each other. WE were what was most important to him and he was most happy when we were all together.
Whether it was for
Our three-day Christmas or Thanksgiving Batty celebrations
Weddings
Graduations
Birthdays
Summer get togethers
Football games
Baseball games
Vacations
Our Las Vegas trips
Any time our family was together, he was always there, celebrating and cheering us on. Proud of each of us.
I think the things that I will miss most, are his ready smile, the sound of his laugh, his big and grateful heart, the way he would always see the best in everyone, and what he would say every time we dropped in for a visit "So glad you come by."
I will leave you with some of my Dads wisest words to me. "Always think before you speak" and "Kind words are best."