Theda Royall

1918 - 2022

ROYALL, Theda Deuel, a resident of Westminster-Canterbury in Richmond, died on June 18. Born in Rockford, Ill., on April 16, 1918, she was 104 years old. Mrs. Royall graduated from the Saint Anthony School of Nursing and attended graduate school at Marquette University in Obstetrics and Infant Care. She was Supervisor of Obstetrics at Saint Anthony Hospital prior to receiving a certificate in Public Health from Peabody College, Vanderbilt University. While attending graduate school, she married then Army First Lt. William Archer Royall at Fort Campbell, Ky. During World War II, Mrs. Royall was a public health nurse in Hardin County, Ky.

In 1947, Mrs. Royall set up the Obstetric Department in the new Jeffersonville Hospital in Tazewell County, Va. From 1954 to 1960, she held the position of Supervisor at the Alexandria Hospital. She also served on the Board of Visiting Nurses for Fairfax County. During the 1960s, Mrs. Royall was a volunteer visiting health nurse for the American Cancer Society.

During the 1970s, Mrs. Royall joined an artist workshop of well-known Washington Area artists in Alexandria. She also studied under famed portrait artist, Robert Bruce Williams. She continued to paint well into her 90s.

As a charter member of the Jeffersonville Woman's Club in 1947, Mrs. Royall began her membership in the Federated Woman's Clubs. She was a charter member and twice President of the Waynewood Woman's Club. She joined the Waynewood Garden Club in 1963 and served twice as its President. From 1954 to 1970, Mrs. Royall was a member of the District of Columbia League of Republican Women and a member of the Martha Washington Republican Women's Club since 1970.

Mrs. Royall was the daughter of industrial engineer, Bert Allen Deuel; and mother, Ina Belle Scott. She was the last surviving sibling of seven children, who include Lena Mae Hampton, Mary Ester Thomas, Alice Charlotte Hada, Dwight Allen Deuel, Elizabeth Julia Alfredson and Robert Chancellor Deuel.

Mrs. Royall's children include the late William Archer "Bill" Royall Jr. (1946 to 2020) and daughter-in-law, Pamela Kiecker Royall, of Richmond and John Thomas Royall and daughter-in-law, Heather Sinclair Royall, of Saint Marys, Ga. Her grandchildren include William Archer Royall III and wife, Melanie, of Richmond, John Powell Royall II and wife, Chelsea, of Lafayette, La., Rider Christian Royall and wife, Holli, of Dallas, Tx., Timothy Danvers Hobart Farquhar of Boulder, Colo., Christopher Lee Royall and his wife, Olya, of Pollack Pines, Calif., Elizabeth Anne Craig and husband, Todd, of Bealeton, Va., Aubyn St. James Royall of Denver, Colo., Nicholas Bowen Royall of Richmond and Rachel Louise Royall of Prince William County, Va. Her eight great-grandchildren include Royall Cooper Wilson, Julian Archer Royall, Charlotte Elizabeth Royall, Hayley Katherine Royall, Carson William Royall, Grayson Pearson, Ryan Carter Royall and Cara Rose Royall. Mrs. Royall's late husband, Judge William Archer Royall, died on September 10, 2003.

A devout Catholic, Mrs. Royall attended daily mass at Good Shepard Catholic Church near Mt. Vernon, Va. She also attended Aldersgate Methodist Church each Sunday for 43 years with her late husband. In 1947, Mrs. Royall and two friends founded St. Theresa's Catholic Church in Tazewell, Va. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Richmond on July 12, 10 a.m.