Troy grieves trustee

Drinkard celebrates his birthday with the board. University Relations photo

Troy University lost one of its most beloved trustees last Sunday, Aug. 23.

Roy Drinkard, a World War II veteran and the nation’s oldest living marine, died at the age of 106.

Drinkard was buried in his hometown of Cullman, Alabama, on Friday, Aug. 28. Moss Service Funeral Home directed his proceedings.

“To attempt to summarize Roy’s life simply by listing the businesses he built, the honors he received or even the remarkable number of years he lived would be to miss much of what made Roy who he was,” wrote Madelyn Grimmet, Drinkard’s great-granddaughter, in Drinkard’s obituary. “He loved life, and perhaps even more than that, he loved people.”

Drinkard was appointed to the Troy University Board of Trustees in 2000. Elected at nearly 80-years-old, Drinkard was reappointed twice and served on the board for more than 25 years.

During that time, he helped oversee Troy State University become the Troy University Alabama knows today.

The Tropolitan reached out to Chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr. and First Lady Janice Hawkins for a comment on Drinkard but did not receive a response.

“Mr. Roy was a proud Marine,” Chancellor Hawkins wrote in Drinkard’s obituary. “He was an inspiration – devoted to his family, faith and to the preservation of freedom.

“As America’s oldest living Marine from World War II, he exemplified ‘freedom is not free.’ As a beloved Trustee of Troy University, he shall forever hold a special place in the hearts and minds of all Troy Trojans.

“May our dear friend rest in peace.”

Troy University honored Drinkard in YEAR by giving his name to the on-campus Center for Materials and Manufacturing Sciences, now called Roy H. Drinkard Hall.

“His final year challenged a body that had carried him through more than a century,” Grimmet wrote. “After a lengthy hospitalization, Roy was determined to return to [his home] in time for his 106th birthday.

“He did, and six weeks later, surrounded by the legacy of a life that had never stopped moving forward, he passed away. The length of Roy Drinkard’s life was extraordinary, and the fullness of it was greater still.

“The reach of Roy’s life can perhaps be seen most clearly in the people who knew him. Across business, education, public service, faith and friendship, those relationships became as much a part of his legacy as anything he built or accomplished.”