ROY LEE STEEN was born Sep. 13, 1921, in Alma Margaret Gunn and Guy Foster Steen's farmhouse in the Pueblo Community, Callahan County, Texas. He died just shy of the age of 101 on Sep. 5, 2022, at Dallas, Texas.
Roy and his siblings Newt, Jack and Dot spent most of their youth on the Steens' livestock farm in Callahan County; however, during the Great Depression, his father leased out the farm while he followed construction jobs in such places as Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Falls City, Uvalde, and San Antonio. In the 1936-37 school year the Steen children began attending school in Moran. Roy was always proud of his role as quarterback of Moran's six-man football team. He also excelled in track and field as well as in tennis. He was the last surviving member of the 1940 graduating class.
The intervention of Moran ISD's superintendent, C. J. Watson assured Roy's future. C. J. knew Roy was college material. He drove Roy to Austin, enrolled him at the University of Texas, found him a place to live and a job. Roy worked construction that summer and began as a chemical engineering major until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, changed his life again.
He applied to the V-12 officer candidate program later that month but since his birth certificate had burned in a courthouse fire, he had to produce documents from the women who witnessed his birth. His official enlistment in the United States Marine Corps was March 9, 1942. On March 15, 1944, he transitioned from the Marines to the Navy. Changes in the needs for aviators took him back and forth between the floating Navy and the flying Navy.
Fortunately, one of those changes took him to Middletown, CT. "I met a cute little Italian girl named Mary Gatti, from Bristol, at a USO (United Service Organization) dance in Middletown and proceeded to spend as much time as possible with her. She was beautiful, had big brown eyes, and my toes curled up the first time I kissed her, so I knew I had found the one. As a bonus, her mother was an excellent cook." They married March 10, 1945, enjoying over 54 years of marriage and three children before her death from cancer in 1999.
Their first assignment as a married couple was at Dallas Naval Air Station where he trained on the N2S Stearman, followed by Pensacola Naval Air Station where he flew the SNJ Texan and the PBY Catalina. Roy received his wings on April 30, 1946. From there it was on to Banana River Naval Air Station where he also flew the enormous PBM Martin Mariner flying boat over the Atlantic. Roy also flew 4-engine transport planes between islands in the Pacific for the Naval Air Transport Service.
Roy resumed his studies at UT Austin and after his graduation in 1949, he was employed as a delivery truck driver for Humble Oil & Refining Company in Fort Worth, Texas. His work ethic and determination took him up the ladder and around the state to Waco, Tyler, Dallas (twice), and San Antonio. After an assignment in Argentina, Roy and Mary enjoyed the California sunshine. While there Roy began his first term in the Department of the Interior's Petroleum and Gas Unit of the National Defense Executive Reserve. He and Mary returned to Dallas in 1975 and Roy continued with the EPGA. At the time of his retirement in 1983 he was serving as Retail Sales Manager of Exxon's marketing operations in the western United States.
Prior to his retirement, Guy Steen told his son about the death of his own grandfather, John Brannon Steen, in an Indian Battle at what he thought was Duck Creek. In usual fashion, Roy took on the task of determining the facts and found it had taken place Jan. 8, 1865, at Dove Creek in what is now Tom Green County, Texas. From there Roy proceeded to research our various family branches, wrote histories, printed books, and distributed them to grateful relatives.
In March of 2014, Honor Flight took Roy to Washington D. C. to visit the World War II Memorial, among others. The Honor Flight volunteers gave him an experience he always treasured.
At the time of his passing, he was the president of his community's Resident Council, a position he held for the last ten years, and refining his family history research. He had taken up the harmonica and often entertained his family and friends. He was a wonderful and dedicated husband and father and a man remembered as a gentleman through and through who had a joke for every occasion.
Roy was preceded in death by his wife Mary Helena Gatti Steen in 1999, his mother Alma Margaret Gunn Steen in 1974, his father Guy Foster Steen in 1978, his brother Newton Weldon Steen in 1985, his brother George Jackson Steen in 2001, and his wife of eight years, Mary Cathryn Weber Wheeler in 2011.
Roy and his siblings Newt, Jack and Dot spent most of their youth on the Steens' livestock farm in Callahan County; however, during the Great Depression, his father leased out the farm while he followed construction jobs in such places as Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Falls City, Uvalde, and San Antonio. In the 1936-37 school year the Steen children began attending school in Moran. Roy was always proud of his role as quarterback of Moran's six-man football team. He also excelled in track and field as well as in tennis. He was the last surviving member of the 1940 graduating class.
The intervention of Moran ISD's superintendent, C. J. Watson assured Roy's future. C. J. knew Roy was college material. He drove Roy to Austin, enrolled him at the University of Texas, found him a place to live and a job. Roy worked construction that summer and began as a chemical engineering major until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, changed his life again.
He applied to the V-12 officer candidate program later that month but since his birth certificate had burned in a courthouse fire, he had to produce documents from the women who witnessed his birth. His official enlistment in the United States Marine Corps was March 9, 1942. On March 15, 1944, he transitioned from the Marines to the Navy. Changes in the needs for aviators took him back and forth between the floating Navy and the flying Navy.
Fortunately, one of those changes took him to Middletown, CT. "I met a cute little Italian girl named Mary Gatti, from Bristol, at a USO (United Service Organization) dance in Middletown and proceeded to spend as much time as possible with her. She was beautiful, had big brown eyes, and my toes curled up the first time I kissed her, so I knew I had found the one. As a bonus, her mother was an excellent cook." They married March 10, 1945, enjoying over 54 years of marriage and three children before her death from cancer in 1999.
Their first assignment as a married couple was at Dallas Naval Air Station where he trained on the N2S Stearman, followed by Pensacola Naval Air Station where he flew the SNJ Texan and the PBY Catalina. Roy received his wings on April 30, 1946. From there it was on to Banana River Naval Air Station where he also flew the enormous PBM Martin Mariner flying boat over the Atlantic. Roy also flew 4-engine transport planes between islands in the Pacific for the Naval Air Transport Service.
Roy resumed his studies at UT Austin and after his graduation in 1949, he was employed as a delivery truck driver for Humble Oil & Refining Company in Fort Worth, Texas. His work ethic and determination took him up the ladder and around the state to Waco, Tyler, Dallas (twice), and San Antonio. After an assignment in Argentina, Roy and Mary enjoyed the California sunshine. While there Roy began his first term in the Department of the Interior's Petroleum and Gas Unit of the National Defense Executive Reserve. He and Mary returned to Dallas in 1975 and Roy continued with the EPGA. At the time of his retirement in 1983 he was serving as Retail Sales Manager of Exxon's marketing operations in the western United States.
Prior to his retirement, Guy Steen told his son about the death of his own grandfather, John Brannon Steen, in an Indian Battle at what he thought was Duck Creek. In usual fashion, Roy took on the task of determining the facts and found it had taken place Jan. 8, 1865, at Dove Creek in what is now Tom Green County, Texas. From there Roy proceeded to research our various family branches, wrote histories, printed books, and distributed them to grateful relatives.
In March of 2014, Honor Flight took Roy to Washington D. C. to visit the World War II Memorial, among others. The Honor Flight volunteers gave him an experience he always treasured.
At the time of his passing, he was the president of his community's Resident Council, a position he held for the last ten years, and refining his family history research. He had taken up the harmonica and often entertained his family and friends. He was a wonderful and dedicated husband and father and a man remembered as a gentleman through and through who had a joke for every occasion.
Roy was preceded in death by his wife Mary Helena Gatti Steen in 1999, his mother Alma Margaret Gunn Steen in 1974, his father Guy Foster Steen in 1978, his brother Newton Weldon Steen in 1985, his brother George Jackson Steen in 2001, and his wife of eight years, Mary Cathryn Weber Wheeler in 2011.
ROY LEE STEEN was born Sep. 13, 1921, in Alma Margaret Gunn and Guy Foster Steen's farmhouse in the Pueblo Community, Callahan County, Texas. He died just shy of the age of 101 on Sep. 5, 2022, at Dallas, Texas.
Roy and his siblings Newt, Jack and Dot spent most of their youth on the Steens' livestock farm in Callahan County; however, during the Great Depression, his father leased out the farm while he followed construction jobs in such places as Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Falls City, Uvalde, and San Antonio. In the 1936-37 school year the Steen children began attending school in Moran. Roy was always proud of his role as quarterback of Moran's six-man football team. He also excelled in track and field as well as in tennis. He was the last surviving member of the 1940 graduating class.
The intervention of Moran ISD's superintendent, C. J. Watson assured Roy's future. C. J. knew Roy was college material. He drove Roy to Austin, enrolled him at the University of Texas, found him a place to live and a job. Roy worked construction that summer and began as a chemical engineering major until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, changed his life again.
He applied to the V-12 officer candidate program later that month but since his birth certificate had burned in a courthouse fire, he had to produce documents from the women who witnessed his birth. His official enlistment in the United States Marine Corps was March 9, 1942. On March 15, 1944, he transitioned from the Marines to the Navy. Changes in the needs for aviators took him back and forth between the floating Navy and the flying Navy.
Fortunately, one of those changes took him to Middletown, CT. "I met a cute little Italian girl named Mary Gatti, from Bristol, at a USO (United Service Organization) dance in Middletown and proceeded to spend as much time as possible with her. She was beautiful, had big brown eyes, and my toes curled up the first time I kissed her, so I knew I had found the one. As a bonus, her mother was an excellent cook." They married March 10, 1945, enjoying over 54 years of marriage and three children before her death from cancer in 1999.
Their first assignment as a married couple was at Dallas Naval Air Station where he trained on the N2S Stearman, followed by Pensacola Naval Air Station where he flew the SNJ Texan and the PBY Catalina. Roy received his wings on April 30, 1946. From there it was on to Banana River Naval Air Station where he also flew the enormous PBM Martin Mariner flying boat over the Atlantic. Roy also flew 4-engine transport planes between islands in the Pacific for the Naval Air Transport Service.
Roy resumed his studies at UT Austin and after his graduation in 1949, he was employed as a delivery truck driver for Humble Oil & Refining Company in Fort Worth, Texas. His work ethic and determination took him up the ladder and around the state to Waco, Tyler, Dallas (twice), and San Antonio. After an assignment in Argentina, Roy and Mary enjoyed the California sunshine. While there Roy began his first term in the Department of the Interior's Petroleum and Gas Unit of the National Defense Executive Reserve. He and Mary returned to Dallas in 1975 and Roy continued with the EPGA. At the time of his retirement in 1983 he was serving as Retail Sales Manager of Exxon's marketing operations in the western United States.
Prior to his retirement, Guy Steen told his son about the death of his own grandfather, John Brannon Steen, in an Indian Battle at what he thought was Duck Creek. In usual fashion, Roy took on the task of determining the facts and found it had taken place Jan. 8, 1865, at Dove Creek in what is now Tom Green County, Texas. From there Roy proceeded to research our various family branches, wrote histories, printed books, and distributed them to grateful relatives.
In March of 2014, Honor Flight took Roy to Washington D. C. to visit the World War II Memorial, among others. The Honor Flight volunteers gave him an experience he always treasured.
At the time of his passing, he was the president of his community's Resident Council, a position he held for the last ten years, and refining his family history research. He had taken up the harmonica and often entertained his family and friends. He was a wonderful and dedicated husband and father and a man remembered as a gentleman through and through who had a joke for every occasion.
Roy was preceded in death by his wife Mary Helena Gatti Steen in 1999, his mother Alma Margaret Gunn Steen in 1974, his father Guy Foster Steen in 1978, his brother Newton Weldon Steen in 1985, his brother George Jackson Steen in 2001, and his wife of eight years, Mary Cathryn Weber Wheeler in 2011.
Roy and his siblings Newt, Jack and Dot spent most of their youth on the Steens' livestock farm in Callahan County; however, during the Great Depression, his father leased out the farm while he followed construction jobs in such places as Del Rio, Eagle Pass, Falls City, Uvalde, and San Antonio. In the 1936-37 school year the Steen children began attending school in Moran. Roy was always proud of his role as quarterback of Moran's six-man football team. He also excelled in track and field as well as in tennis. He was the last surviving member of the 1940 graduating class.
The intervention of Moran ISD's superintendent, C. J. Watson assured Roy's future. C. J. knew Roy was college material. He drove Roy to Austin, enrolled him at the University of Texas, found him a place to live and a job. Roy worked construction that summer and began as a chemical engineering major until the bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, changed his life again.
He applied to the V-12 officer candidate program later that month but since his birth certificate had burned in a courthouse fire, he had to produce documents from the women who witnessed his birth. His official enlistment in the United States Marine Corps was March 9, 1942. On March 15, 1944, he transitioned from the Marines to the Navy. Changes in the needs for aviators took him back and forth between the floating Navy and the flying Navy.
Fortunately, one of those changes took him to Middletown, CT. "I met a cute little Italian girl named Mary Gatti, from Bristol, at a USO (United Service Organization) dance in Middletown and proceeded to spend as much time as possible with her. She was beautiful, had big brown eyes, and my toes curled up the first time I kissed her, so I knew I had found the one. As a bonus, her mother was an excellent cook." They married March 10, 1945, enjoying over 54 years of marriage and three children before her death from cancer in 1999.
Their first assignment as a married couple was at Dallas Naval Air Station where he trained on the N2S Stearman, followed by Pensacola Naval Air Station where he flew the SNJ Texan and the PBY Catalina. Roy received his wings on April 30, 1946. From there it was on to Banana River Naval Air Station where he also flew the enormous PBM Martin Mariner flying boat over the Atlantic. Roy also flew 4-engine transport planes between islands in the Pacific for the Naval Air Transport Service.
Roy resumed his studies at UT Austin and after his graduation in 1949, he was employed as a delivery truck driver for Humble Oil & Refining Company in Fort Worth, Texas. His work ethic and determination took him up the ladder and around the state to Waco, Tyler, Dallas (twice), and San Antonio. After an assignment in Argentina, Roy and Mary enjoyed the California sunshine. While there Roy began his first term in the Department of the Interior's Petroleum and Gas Unit of the National Defense Executive Reserve. He and Mary returned to Dallas in 1975 and Roy continued with the EPGA. At the time of his retirement in 1983 he was serving as Retail Sales Manager of Exxon's marketing operations in the western United States.
Prior to his retirement, Guy Steen told his son about the death of his own grandfather, John Brannon Steen, in an Indian Battle at what he thought was Duck Creek. In usual fashion, Roy took on the task of determining the facts and found it had taken place Jan. 8, 1865, at Dove Creek in what is now Tom Green County, Texas. From there Roy proceeded to research our various family branches, wrote histories, printed books, and distributed them to grateful relatives.
In March of 2014, Honor Flight took Roy to Washington D. C. to visit the World War II Memorial, among others. The Honor Flight volunteers gave him an experience he always treasured.
At the time of his passing, he was the president of his community's Resident Council, a position he held for the last ten years, and refining his family history research. He had taken up the harmonica and often entertained his family and friends. He was a wonderful and dedicated husband and father and a man remembered as a gentleman through and through who had a joke for every occasion.
Roy was preceded in death by his wife Mary Helena Gatti Steen in 1999, his mother Alma Margaret Gunn Steen in 1974, his father Guy Foster Steen in 1978, his brother Newton Weldon Steen in 1985, his brother George Jackson Steen in 2001, and his wife of eight years, Mary Cathryn Weber Wheeler in 2011.
