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Michael Roy died fittingly while on an African Safari
by Mickey Roy
 Award-winning hunter knew the end was coming shortly
Michael Roy of Bessemer, an avid outdoorsman and pioneer
of rights for the disabled, passed away on April 12 while
on safari in Africa at the age of 60.
The trip was a gift from the Safari Club International,
which presented him with their prestigious Pathfinder Award
for his work to pursue the sport of hunting in the face
of overwhelming odds.
He was confined to a wheelchair after a battle with polio
at age seven.
Nevertheless, he earned an accounting degree from the University
of Alabama, learned to fly a Cessna and retired as an accountant
from Bessemer State Technical College in 2001.
Throughout his life, he worked for the rights of the disabled.
Over the last 25 years, he had served as a board member
and president of the Alabama Coalition of Citizens with
Disabilities, organizing political lobbies and protests
and fighting for legislation that would improve the lives
of the disabled.
"We did whatever it took to make things better," he said
in an earlier interview with The Western Star.
Loved hunting
Roy always loved hunting, but saw there was no practical
way for the handicapped to enjoy it. So he and John Ramsey,
who had recently been paralyzed from an 11-foot fall from
a tree stand while deer hunting, co-founded Disabled Sportsmen
of Alabama, a group that organized hunts for handicapped
hunters, taking them to various hunting hot spots around
the southeast.
Established about 10 years ago, the group is still going
strong with about 35 members. There was not a more fitting
reward for his work for others than for his dying wish to
come true – hunting wild game in Namibia.
Beginning the hunt early in April, Roy had already taken
seven trophy animals when he told friends that he wasn’t
feeling well and would be sleeping in. When his wife Judy
came back to the room later that morning, he was dead.
After a tough year in 2002 with chronic health problems
stemming from a reappearance of esophageal cancer that was
first discovered back in 1996.
He died peacefully while doing what he loved. Although he
suffered greatly with illness, he managed to touch the lives
of a great many people.
A man who will be greatly missed, Michael Roy led a full
life indeed.
THE WESTERN STAR STAFF
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