Roy O. Mitchell

Roy O. Mitchell, 79, of Dover died Monday, September 11, 2006 at Aultman Hospital.

Born July 25, 1927 in Shenandoah, Virginia he was a son of the late Roy and Thelma Smith Mitchell. He was also preceded in death by his first wife, Judy with whom he was married over 33 years when she passed away in 1984 after a 12 year battle with cancer.
Roy married his present wife Kathy Wilson Mitchell with whom he had 13 years of a happy loving marriage.

He is also survived by his four children, Patrick (fiancé Brenda Kloos) Mitchell of Cincinnati and two grandchildren, Celeste and Spencer; Terry (fiancé Rob Peterson) Mitchell of San Ramon, Ca; Michael (Anne) Mitchell of Dallas, Texas and two grandchildren Lars and Scott; Beth (Bob) Saralegui of Lake Dallas, Texas and grandchild Laine; two step children, Melissa (Scott) Rister of Northville, Michigan and four grandchildren, Nicole, Lauren, Faith and Jaimee; Michele (Greg) Anderson of New Philadelphia and three grandchildren, Eric, Chris and Michael; sisters in law, Janie Myers of Texas, JoAnn (John) Bennett of Columbus, Billie Jean Fadley of Cleveland and Jill (Mike) Wolfe of Columbus; brothers in law, George (Barbara) Wilson of Dover and their families and John (Whip) Wilson of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

He loved his children and was very proud of their accomplishments. He also loved his grandchildren, but was sorry he wasn�(TM)t able to see more of them in their formative years. He was raised in Portsmouth, Ohio and attended Holy Redeemer grade and high school. He participated in football, basketball and baseball. In his senior year he was co-captain in football and co-recipient of the most valuable player award. Upon graduation from high school he enlisted in the Navy and served in WW II. After his discharge he entered Xavier University in Cincinnati, graduating in 1950. He started his career of 53 years in the thrift industry with the State of Ohio as an examiner with the Division of Building and Loans. He moved to Dover in 1964 joining First Federal as assistant manager. He became a director in 1965 and was made chief executive officer in 1969, where he served until his retirement in 1992. He continued on the Board of Directors until 2003. He was then elected Director Emeritus and served until his death. He always considered the highlight of his years, as CEO was when First Federal was named one of the top 32 savings and loan companies in the country out of over 3, 100 in 1988.

Roy was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church and served on the original finance committee. He was treasurer for several years of the annual St. Joseph festival. He was a member of the St. Joseph Rambler Club and the Tuscarawas Central Catholic Booster Club, where he was treasurer for many years. He was a member of Union Country Club and served a term on the Board of Directors. He belonged to the Dover Rotary Club for years and was also a member of the Dover Elks, Moose and VFW. Roy also enjoyed playing tennis and liked tournament play. When he was physically unable to play he followed the sport on television.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday, September 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm in the St. Joseph Catholic Church at Dover with Fr. William Arnold officiating. Cremation will follow the service with interment of the ashes to be in the Greenlawn Cemetery at Portsmouth, Ohio. Friends can call in the Toland-Herzig Funeral Homes and Crematory at Dover on Thursday from 6-8 pm. Elk�(TM)s services will be held at 5:45 pm and Christian Wake service will start at 7:45 pm. Those wishing to express their fondest memories of Roy may do so by visiting the on line obituaries link on the funeral homes website.

Memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Tuscarawas County at 201 W 3rd St. Dover, Ohio 44622.

Toland-Herzig
330-343-6132
www.tolandherzig.com