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Note: Father's name Henry(age 92 when he died)was a mason all his life. He and his
wife are buried in a small cemetery east of Route 9 north of Toms River.
Henry had a full head of thick hair that would be the envy of hundreds of
people; it covered most of his forehead. His wife had only wisps of hair.
Roy had two brothers, Raymond and Harry and a sister Evelyn Clayton; all had
little hair.
Roy was mayor of Beachwood in late 1930s up to about 1943. Chain smoked
cigars(Raymond says he would finish a box of 50 cigars in a week. He also
drank a lot of Canadian Club whiskey).
A very quiet man. Kind but forceful. Decisive. Knew what he wanted and what he
had to do to get it.
Worked for the Series JL1 Trustees, a mortgage investment, real estate firm in
New York about the
time of WWII. Roy had charge of properties in New York and New Jersey. He was
the only non-lawyer in the firm who was allowed to act as a lawyer in court for
the firm. One of the properties he controlled was the Deering estate in
Rumson. The firm had taken over the estate after the partners McCormick and
Deering had split and Deering could not keep up the payments. In order to help
sell the property, Roy arranged to have his father(in his 70's) do plastering,
and Rudolph
Wotochek do painting. Raymond helped them both. While working, they lived
in the estate guest house. The estate also had a game house as big as a small
residence with all kinds of games such as pool, roullette, cards, etc.
Later had his own business in the plumbing shop, Standard Mortgage
Co with three partners for about six years.
Around 1936, Roy took over the garage on Route 9 in Beachwood from a man called
Goodrich who was unable to make the payments. Roy said he would clean it up
and operate it to make it a paying proposition in order to make it easier to
sell. Shortly after Roy took over the building, Ed opened the Esso gas
station called Beachwood Garage. A Ford dealer, Downes Ford also moved in,
using the showroom for 3-4 cars and storing about 25 cars in the garage.
Roy was color blind therefore could not drive easily; someone would have
to tell him if the lights were red or green. Raymond and Wennie often had to
drive him places.
Married in Union City. Died - of pneumonia, Pollack Hospital, Jersey City, NJ
Buried- George Washington Memorial Park, Paramus, NJ
Raymond assumes Roy was born in a concrete stucco ranch house on the east
side of Route 9 in Pine Beach, NJ. The house was on the farm where they grew
corn and tomatoes. When Roy's father sold that house, they moved to Barnegat
Blvd. in Beachwood. Raymond thinks his grandfather built that house, which he
sold after his wife died. He moved to a small house(almost a shack) near the
railroad station in South Toms River where he died. Raymond says he "drank like
a fish".
He drove a Model T Ford until he was 80 or 81, until the car couldn't be
fixed any more. When he was driving, everyone knew who was coming because his
was probably the only Model T in Ocean County. In the late 20's Roy bought the
bungalow on Forepeak.
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