Roy B Wathen, Jr.

Roy Bayne Wathen Jr. went to his heavenly home with the Lord on Sunday March 21^st, 2021.

Roy Jr. “Sonny” was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana on August 28^th, 1934 to Edith and Roy Sr., a state game warden. The Great Flood of 1937, which submerged 90 percent of Jeffersonville, forced the Wathen family to pack up and move north. They settled on a homestead in the small town of Little York, where Roy, his sister, Linda, and his pet crow (deceased due to an unfortunate outhouse incident) spent their childhood days.

Although Roy Sr. had high hopes of Jr. becoming a professional boxer, the US Army called upon Roy’s service to support the Cold War efforts. Roy was stationed in upstate New York at a critical missile base protecting the Eastern Coast of the United States. During his service, Roy was commended as an outstanding marksman. A craft he continued to perfect throughout his life by protecting his yard and crops from varmints.

Before Roy was deployed to New York, he caught the eye of a lovely young lady in Campbellsburg. After driving past her house an unnecessary number of times in his ‘55 Ford,  Roy caught the eye of Peggy Chastain. The smooth-talking Roy mustered up the courage to ask Peggy out and they struck up a romance. After some time in a long-distance relationship, Peggy’s parents finally agreed to her moving to New York to be with Roy. They were then joined in holy matrimony on May 25, 1958.   Roy and Peggy would remain husband and wife and best friends for the next 62 years.

At the conclusion of Roy’s service in the military, they moved back to Little York where Roy would live the rest of his days. In a house they constructed, Roy and Peggy would raise two beautiful daughters, Rhonda and Kim. For 36 years he worked at the American Can company in Austin while his daughters blossomed into young women. A man of great faith, Roy was a deacon at the Little York Christian Church and rarely missed a Sunday service.

Roy was much more than a dedicated working family man. He was very particular about his hobbies and possessions. His passion for cars started when he purchased his first car, a robin egg blue Mercury entirely with silver dollars. Throughout his life, he would go on to own such prized automobiles like a ‘67 GTO, 409 Impala, and Plymouth Fury.  In the garage today is a 1988 Corvette convertible with only 45k miles. Roy’s passion for cars and racing expanded through his extensive collection of Hot Rod magazines, die cast cars, and NASCAR memorabilia. Everyone in the extended Wathen and Johnson families remember some of their happiest days in life when they were at Roy and Peggy’s deluxe in-ground pool while listening to his Beach Boys CDs and shooting billiards on their pool table (Roy might have been a secret pool shark – there is no evidence of him ever actually playing…). Roy’s dreams of becoming a race car driver were limited to his laps on the zero-turn mower – a piece of machinery you could find him on every sunny day. And his snacks – Roy loved freshly popped popcorn, Homemade vanilla ice cream, Rhubarb pie, and many more of Peggy’s delicious fixins’. No matter the scenario, Roy was always the life of the party and the coolest guy in the room.

Roy is survived by and will be missed every day by his wife Peggy, his sister Linda and her husband Evan Bridgewater, his daughter Rhonda and her husband Mike Johnson, Kim and her husband Ron Johnson, four grandchildren Megan, Whitney, Blake, and Corbin, and three great grandchildren Penelope, Lincoln, and Jude.

Visitation will be open to the public as long as social distancing guidelines can be observed. Please follow the CDC’s recommendations and guidelines while attending the visitation, the funeral service at the church, and face coverings are encouraged.

VISITATION:  4PM - 8PM  THURSDAY  MARCH 25 2021

                      10AM - 11AM  FRIDAY  MARCH 26 2021

  STEWART & HOAGLAND FUNERAL HOME

 FUNERAL SERVICE: 11AM  FRIDAY  MARCH 26 2021

   STEWART & HOAGLAND FUNERAL HOME

BURIAL: Little York Cemetery

MEMORIAL DONATIONS: Little York Christian Church or Little York Cemetery

c/o Stewart & Hoagland Funeral Home, 80 N 1st St., Scottsburg IN 47170