Roy Driver

Roy Hilbert Driver, 95, was born on April 27, 1927 in Rouse, Colorado. The family left the small mining town of Rouse and settled in Seymour, MO where Roy graduated from Seymour High School. The Lord took Roy's hand and led him home on January 8, 2023 as he was surrounded by family. His parents were Floyd Driver, Sr. (1899-1970) and Cecil Martin Driver (1903-1982). He grew up with four brothers and one brother who passed shortly after birth: James Don Driver (Jan 5, 1949-Jan 7, 1949), Floyd Delmar Driver, Jr. (1919-1969), Alva Norman Driver (1923-2020), Charles Driver (1932-2011), and Donald Lee Driver (1934-2010). All have preceded him in death.
Roy met the love of his life, Betty Jane Driver (1928-2006), while attending school in Seymour, MO. They married on July 1, 1945 and enjoyed 61 years together before the Lord called her home. After their marriage, they moved to New Jersey while Roy completed his service in the Navy. Betty worked at the candy store to pass her time. After Roy's time in the service, they moved back to Seymour, MO and later to Springfield, MO to live and raise their family.
Together, they raised three sons, Roy Dean, Jimmy Lee, and Randall Paul (1955-2019) and finally they got their wish for a daughter, Kimberly Jane. They were blessed with nine grandchildren, seven step-grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and seven step great-grandchildren
Roy had an impeccable work ethic. During Roy's work career, he worked as the manager of Consumer grocery store on south Campbell for 25 years and later moved one block over and became the general manager of McDonalds at 501 W. Sunshine Street for 30+ years where he received the company's Outstanding Store Manager award for four consecutive years which consequentially led to that store receiving the Outstanding Store award seven times within a 10-year period. After retiring from McDonald's, he decided to drive the activity bus for Cambridge (independent senior living facility) where him and his wife, Betty, enjoyed many fun trips to the Branson shows and other various fun trips.
Many summers were spent on Table Rock Lake at their cabin near the Sportsman's Club off DD Highway. Roy loved to ski – slalom at that! and he only knew one speed when driving the boat – wide open – which is why Kimberly would set in the floor of the boat, tucked into the cubby hole where the driver's seat feet were. If you were brave enough to be pulled as a skier, you would swear you were air borne as you crossed the wake. His sense of humor was always at play as he would cut the boat motor when going under the Kimberling City bridge while pulling skiers and shout back "I hear there's big fish down there!" while the skiers slowly sunk down into the water with their toes curled and knees pulled up. One thing is for certain, a bologna sandwich always tasted better when boating on the water.
Because of Betty's foresight, she suggested they sell the cabin after many years and invest in rental property. Roy always said she was the smartest woman he knew since the rental income ended up being a nice supplement to their retirement funds. Roy always looked to his son, Randy, for guidance on the many questions he had on financial and legal advice. Roy and Betty took meticulous care of their properties and always had renters that wanted to stay a long time, the most notable being Evelyn Camp (1939-2021) who ended up helping the family watch over him during his later years since she rented the connecting duplex. Among spending time with family, Roy and Betty loved to travel and took several chartered bus trips while their health allowed. Roy also enjoyed going on the Honor Flights to Washington, DC to view the memorials. He was very proud to have served in the armed forces.
After Betty passed, Roy continued to care for the flower garden he made for her in their back yard and feed Betty's birds because he knew it meant so much to her. Roy would visit her gravesite daily, taking his hand clippers to trim the grass away from the headstone when needed and even bring a jug of water if it hadn't rained recently because he didn't want the grass on her gravesite to turn brown. Nothing was ever too good for his sweetheart. He liked to go to the cemetery to get his walk in plus he said he felt close to "mommie" while there. Though she was absent from this earth, she was never absent from his heart.
Roy also enjoyed spending time helping his son, Jim, fix clocks as well as watching the multitude of humming birds and other birds Sarah fed. While at Jim's he usually ended up lounging by the pool in the warm sun for afternoon naps. Not being a cook himself, he enjoyed many invitations to Dean's home to enjoy Barbara's home cooking. She continued to bring him homemade broth, among other homemade goodies, any time he would be in the hospital. He had a regular routine of eating places he frequented daily – the main one being Village Inn where they knew what he wanted when he walked in the door. He rarely forgot to go on free pie day. He would always feel so blessed and surprised at the many times strangers would pick up his tab. The other restaurant choices were mainly driven by which ever restaurant had the best coupon that week. He would lay out all the coupons on the table and make his list for the week. You would rarely go to his home without seeing fun sized candy bars or snacks lined up on the counter. Roy was very detail oriented and thrifty. He would read the newspaper from front to back, as well as any and all junk mail. He didn't want to miss out on a bargain! He loved to take his grandchildren out for meals (Steak 'n Shake usually) when they would be in town attending college and loved attending the grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's school events.
Kimberly Well in his eyes, she could do no wrong since she reminded him so much of Betty. The brothers dubbed her the Princess. Roy's love for his family was again displayed when handwritten letters to each of his children were found tucked away under the calendar on his desk stating "Me and mommie want you to be in Heaven with us. If you are not sure you are saved, I have circled the prayer below you need to pray. Be sincere and mean it when you pray. Me and mommie love you so much. Please prepare now so we can all be together again. See you in Heaven!"
Family was his "Why" in life. It's what he lived for every day as he would wait for that call, text or to hear the doorbell – which sometimes had to be a hard knock (just short of knocking the door down) when his hearing started to fade.
Roy attended Second Baptist Church for many years with his wife Betty. After she passed, he started attending Ridgecrest Baptist Church while his health allowed.
In lieu of flower, donations may be made to the American Heart Association in Roy's memory. A military graveside service was held on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, at 11am at Hazelwood Cemetery.