Roy F. Sturtridge

Roy F. Sturtridge, 86, passed away June 18, 2008, at his home in Sunrise Beach, Missouri. Roy was born in Souris, Manitoba, on September 3, 1921, to Joseph Tinney Sturtridge and Sarah Florence Clark. He was the last of six children. In 1923, Roy and his family moved to the Kansas City area where his father hoped to find work and be closer to other family members who had come from England. Because of hard times, including the Depression, Roy attended thirteen different schools as the family moved from neighborhood to neighborhood. He attended Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kansas until he joined the Kansas National Guard at age 17. He served in the Guard and then the U.S. Army from 1939, until December of 1944. Also, in 1944, he married Norma Scown, and together they had two children, Gregory Joseph and Cathy Sue. After his discharge from the Army, he returned to Kansas City and became a carpenter’s apprentice, following in his father’s footsteps. He worked as a carpenter for the Jones Store at 12th and Main in Kansas City, Missouri, and then as an independent builder of both homes and businesses in Kansas City and California. In 1964, he married Gladys McKane who had one daughter Beep. The family moved to rural McLouth, Kansas, where they lived many event filled years on “the Poor Farm”. Besides being a gentleman farmer, Roy worked for the University of Kansas and then for the City of Lawrence, Kansas, as a building inspector. In 1980, he moved to the Lawrence area, semi retired, and worked part-time for McGrew Real Estate until his final retirement in 1985. In 1988, Roy married Katie Alexander of Overland Park, Kansas. They spent 20 years together traveling, fishing, and dancing. In 2001, he and Katie moved to Sunrise Beach, Missouri, at the Lake of the Ozarks. Roy was a member of Plymouth Congregational Church in Lawrence, and Ozark Chapel United Methodist Church in Laurie, Missouri. He also belonged to the Osage Community Elks Lodge #2705 in Laurie, and the American Legion Zack Wheat Post #624 in Sunrise Beach. Roy lived several different kinds of lives in several different places and he loved it all. His positive attitude and friendly manner enabled him to be at home anywhere with anyone. His mother told him early on that he had a silver spoon in his mouth, and he always believed that he was truly blessed by the life that he had lived. He was a humble, honest and loving person who didn’t require much in the way of material things, just the outdoors, nature, family, and friends. In the spring of 2008, he was nominated for the Senior King of the Dogwood Festival at the Lake of the Ozarks. During the ceremony where he was crowned King, he was asked by the judges about his most memorable life experience. He told about a trip where he, his daughter, Beep, and some friends hopped a freight train in Denver and rode it through Moffit tunnel and on into Western Colorado. This summed up Roy’s life; every day was an adventure. Roy is preceded in death by his parents, three sisters, two brothers, and wife Gladys. He is survived by his son, Greg Sturtridge and wife Debbie of Kansas City; daughter, Cathy Dubois of Merriam, Kansas; and daughter Beep Colclough and husband John of Tustin, California. He also leaves five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. In his extended family, he leaves two stepsons, Robert Alexander and wife Lona of Stilwell, Kansas and Bill Alexander and wife Anne of Overland Park, Kansas; and four step-grandchildren. A visitation will be held from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., Saturday, June 21, at the Ozark Chapel United Methodist Church in Laurie, Missouri. A second visitation will be held from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m., Monday, June 23, at the Chapel Hill-Butler Funeral Home in Kansas City, Kansas. Graveside services with full military honors will be held at 2:00 p.m., Monday, June 23, at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Kansas City, Kansas with Reverend Rick White officiating. Memorial contributions are suggested to the Ozark Chapel United Methodist Church. Expressions of sympathy may be left online at www.kidwellgarber.com. Arrangements are under the direction of the Kidwell-Garber Laurie/Sunrise Beach Chapel.

Roy F. Sturtridge

June 18, 2008

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Roy F. Sturtridge

June 18, 2008

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