John L. Roy of Sparta passed away peacefully early Saturday afternoon, July 19, 2025, at his home. He was 99.
He spent his last days with children at home along with visits and phone calls with friends and relatives.
Like Lou Gehrig said at Yankee Stadium on July 4, 1939, John said, “I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth” to have spent most of his life with Alice, his late wife.
He also said, “I have lived a great happy life with my own family in the United States and had a great start with my family in Quebec City, Canada, including siblings Francoise, Raymond and Benoit and our parents, Paul Emile Roy, Geraldine Roy, and after her death in 1939, Therese Roy.”
John attended the University of Toronto, where he majored in hotel administration and learned to speak English fluently.
After their early years in Bermuda, where they married in 1953, Alice and John lived in northern New Jersey and eventually moved to Sparta’s Lake Mohawk community in 1963.
During the years, he worked in hotel convention sales, primarily with the Tamiment Resort and Downingtown Hotel in Pennsylvania, and later in life ran his own company, Meetings Seminars and Conventions (MSC). He retired at age 95.
He was a devout Catholic and served for decades as an usher at Our Lady of the Lake Church.
He completed the New York City Marathon twice in the 1980s.
John was always pleasant and loved talking with people. With his French-Canadian accent, he charmed everyone and always welcomed visitors to his home.
He cared for Alice during her last 10 years with Alzheimer’s. He supported his children and grandchildren by attending plays, birthdays and games.
There were plenty of holiday celebrations at his family home and numerous trips and airport runs. He is remembered for telling funny stories about meeting Canadian and U.S. government leaders, such as Richard Nixon, and celebrities, including Joe DiMaggio.
He was predeceased by his wife of 68 years, Alice O. Roy; his sister, Francoise Turgeon; and his brother Raymond Roy (all three passed in 2021).
He is survived by his younger brother, Benoit Roy, and sister-in-law Michelle Roy; children, Paul Roy, Richard Roy (partner Lisa Stein), Marie Caroline Roy (who was his caregiver in recent years) and Charlie Roy; daughter-in-law Katica Roy; seven grandchildren, Bruno, Justine, Kellie, Juliette, Erin, Henry and Annabel; and four great-grandchildren, Riley, Jackson, Kinley and Kaius.
Visitation was July 23 at Goble Funeral Home, 22 Main St., Sparta. A funeral Mass was July 24 at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, 294 Sparta Ave., Sparta. There will be a private family burial at a later date.
The family requests contributions in his memory to the Karen Ann Quinlan Hospice (karenannquinlanhospice.org).