Retha A Roy

A Memorial service for Retha A. Roy, 92, will be held Sunday, March 13, 2022, 3:00 p.m. at Stoess' Funeral Home, 6534 W. Hwy 22, Crestwood, Kentucky. Visitation will be prior to the service from 1:00 PM. until 3:00 PM.   Retha passed away peacefully from natural causes one month shy of her 93rd birthday. Retha Mae Adkins was born March 7, 1929, in the small town of Ingle, Kentucky to Starlin and Demonia Kissee Adkins. She was the ninth of eleven children. 

On March 16, 1946, Retha married a young World War II Navy combat veteran, E. Harold Roy. They established their first home at Windsor, Kentucky planning on raising tobacco and pigs. Their first son, Joel, came a year later and the little trio settled into farm life close to family and friends. But the desire for something more had the young couple venturing away from home taking them a little bit north to Cincinnati, Ohio. It was there that a neighbor invited them to attend some church meetings, and from those meetings they became members of the Central Seventh-day Adventist Church. Soon thereafter, her husband felt a call to the ministry, and they then began their journey of further education and serving the Lord and His church. 

Together they served more than 35 years in ministry with the Seventh-day Adventist Church - pastoring churches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Kentucky. It was during their time in Ohio that their youngest son, Michael, was born. 

The couple finally retired to the Louisville area in 1988, where they had always felt fortunate to have been able to pastor the Pewee Valley and St. Matthews Seventh-day Adventist Churches. It is here that they enjoyed their hard-earned retirement among good friends and to be closer to family. 

Retha was a talented person - not only was she artistic; enjoying painting and drawing, she was able to make almost anything with the correct fabric and a sewing machine. She loved the Lord and tried to always put him first in her life. She was a helpful neighbor, expert gardener and loved birds. 

In addition to her parents and siblings, Retha was preceded in death by an infant son and her youngest son, Michael in 2014. Retha has been interred at Louisville Memorial Gardens East. 

At the time of this writing - 20 days after her death - her beloved husband of almost 76 years, Elmon Harold Roy, has passed from a broken heart and complications of COVID. 

She is survived by her son, Joel, and his wife Sandy; daughter-in-law, Kim Roy; granddaughter Misha and her husband Toby Porter; grandson, Christopher Roy; great-granddaughter, Maiah Porter, and great-grandson, Garet Porter; great-granddaughter, Cambree Roy; and great-great grandson, Frederick (Freddy) James Anderson. 

In lieu of flowers donations to the Alzheimer’s Association would be appreciated by the family.

 https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/research_progress 

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