Born: October 10, 1944 Massachusetts

Died: August 25, 2015 Waco, McLennan County, Texas

Son of George Reginald Royle and Mary A. Anderson Royle

Lt./Chief Pilot (Ret.) Stuart “Stu” Walker Royle, 70, passed away Tuesday, August 25, 2015.

Funeral services will be 10 a.m., Saturday, August 29, at Lake Shore Funeral Home Chapel, 5201 Steinbeck Bend, in Waco with Pastor Nehemiah Torberson officiating. Burial will follow at China Spring Cemetery. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m., Friday, August 28, at Lake Shore Funeral Home.

Stu graduated from Michigan State University in 1966 with a BA in History and a BS in English. Immediately after graduation, he was drafted in to the United States Army. He entered OCS in November 1966 and graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in May 1967. Stu was then assigned to Hawaii. He was promoted to Captain in November 1969 and assigned to Vietnam at Pleiku in the 2nd of the 9th Artillery/4th Infantry Division. He was discharged from the Army in April 1970. He left Hawaii in November 1970 and moved to Coventry, Rhode Island. Stu went to work with the Coventry RI Police Department in November 1970 rising to the rank of Chief of Detectives.

Stu moved to Waco in 1980 and went to work for the McLennan County Sheriff’s office in July 1981. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant over the Hwy. 6 Jail and retired in January 2001. He then returned as Lt./Chief Pilot over the Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit, flying the department’s helicopter. Stu retired a second time alongside his wife, Janice, on August 31, 2012. He had a total of 31 years service with the S.O. and 10 years with Coventry PD for a grand total of 41 years in law enforcement. He lived to serve.

Stu was always so proud of the fact that his father was assigned to the United States Army Air Force during WWII. Stu was in the United States Army during the Vietnam War and his son, Andy, graduated from the Air Force Academy and was in the United States Air Force during peace time.

He was preceded in death by his parents, George R. Royle, Jr. and Mary A. Royle of East Hampton Massachusetts.

Stu is survived by his wife, Janice (Kerr) Royle; son, Andy Royle and wife, Ashley, of Sykesville, Maryland; daughter, Amanda Squires and husband, Bee Jay, of Franklin, Tennessee; four grandchildren, Walker and Katy Squires and Alec and Hannah Royle; two sisters, Susie St. Amand and friend, Michael Cadenazzi, and Barbara DiMente, all of Rhode Island; mother and father-in-law, Tommie and Kenneth Kerr; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Donna and William Sanders, brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Jimmie and Peggy Kerr, and brother-in-law and sister-in-law, David and Linda Kerr; numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews; as well as many, many friends and loved ones, too many to name.

Pallbearers will be Robert Bleything, John Anderson, Jimmie Kerr, David Kerr, William Sanders, and Bee Jay Squires.