John Shearer: Amid Family Memories, Relatives Lay World War II Hero Sanford Roy To Rest

Nearly two dozen relatives of Sanford Roy gathered this week to finally say goodbye to this man they never had a chance to say hello to.

But they felt like they knew him, as all their lives they had heard praising stories of this World War II Army veteran’s actions and manner in and away from the theater of combat. In fact, before he put himself in harm’s way as a member of the Eighth Air Force, he simply tried to also do good as a caring relative.

“My dad, Doyle Roy Jr., was his nephew, and he and (the other gathered relatives’ dads) all grew up with him,” recalled Darla Roy Blazek. “They were young boys when Uncle Sanford was shot down but they loved him. He taught them how to ride bikes and drive cars. He was just an uncle who had no children. These boys loved their uncle. He was my dad’s favorite uncle.”

Added fellow relative Nancy Roy Nunnally, who had heard similar stories, “He wasn’t that much older than them, either. He was almost like a brother to them.”

As was highlighted in his obituary linked below and in various local news stories in recent days, Tech. Sgt. Sanford Gordon Roy had been proclaimed dead after he and other crew members aboard a B-24H nicknamed Little Joe were shot down while on a bombing mission in Germany on April 8, 1944, after taking off from England.

The crash site was found in 2015, and Sgt. Roy’s remains were positively identified in July 2024 after several families had provided DNA samples.

The graveside service with honors took place on Tuesday at Chattanooga’s National Cemetery on the 81^stanniversary of his death. Charles Broadrick, a relative through Sanford’s older sister and Charles’ grandmother, Bertha Roy Broadrick, said the service was meaningful.

It included firetrucks lining the entrance to the cemetery, the attendance of several veterans in support, a bagpipe player, a 21-gun salute, a Blackhawk helicopter flyover, and an acapella quartet singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Bless America.”

Helping lead the Church of Christ service with military honors were Minister and former Sheriff John Cupp, who turned 94 that day, and Ministers David Schonhoff and David Smith.

“It was heartwarming and sad but a very happy time,” Mr. Broadrick said. “Usually someone is buried within four or five days. But we had planned this for four months and it had been going on for 81 years.”

Ms. Blazek said as several were interviewed at the North Crest Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home on Monday that the gathering turned into a family reunion. But she hinted that it had even a richer significance.

“It is absolutely surreal. We have gotten together with cousins that we haven’t seen in many years,” she said. “It has brought us together as a family and it has been a wonderful experience knowing that he is home to rest eternally in his hometown.”

Sgt. Roy, the son of Southern Railway employee George and Dora Roy, was only 31 when he died. Having grown up in a still-standing home at 2108 Wilson St. just off Dodson Avenue, he attended Central High as a member of the Class of 1934 and then worked as a painter with Gilman Paint before being hired as a security guard with TVA.

“There is actually a video of him painting a sign, and he ended up getting a job painting some of the Rock City barns,” Mr. Broadrick said. “After that he got a job with TVA for maybe six months and then he enlisted. It was really hard for him to find a job because it was the Depression.”

After he was shot down, memories of this painter remained vividly like a fresh coat of paint that never dulled. And there was plenty of heartache involved.

“His mother, my great-grandmother, had a metal box of his belongings that they sent back to them, and she would show us stuff that was in there,” remembered Ms. Nunnally. “She would hold up something and fold it real lovingly and put it back and she would cry the whole time. She always had a sad look on her face.

Added Ms. Blazek, “We remember George and Dora Roy” (who died in 1969 and 1974, respectively, and are buried at Greenwood Cemetery). They were a sweet couple. They had butter rum Lifesavers in their pocket and chocolate-covered peanuts they would give us. But they were always sad.”

Mike Gooden, another great-nephew, said he also remembers the metal box, despite being young when he would visit Sanford Roy’s parents with his grandparents. He also has another connection, as he was a member of the Eighth Air Force like Sanford, he proudly said.

Two other sons, Doyle and Esper, were drafted during the war but survived.

Ms. Blazek believes they would have felt relief with the news of recent years that his plane was found and that he has been brought home and laid to rest at the Chattanooga National Cemetery.

Greg Roy, the brother of Ms. Blazek, said the descendants felt relief as well after his plane was found. But it had its own sense of anticipation and uncertainty just as George and Dora Roy felt in never getting any news of their son’s remains being found during their lifetimes.

“I started getting emails from the military that they had found a plane and thought it might be his, and they sent me a DNA kit,” he said. “That was the last thing I heard until this past November. I had to wait that long, and I kept every email in my computer of all the letters they sent me. I had started getting a little worried, but then I found out it was a 100 percent match.”

Fellow relative Becky Terrill had gone up to an initial information meeting in Louisville, Ky., after the plane was located, the family added, and that had initially started the process.

Now, after about 10 years, closure has finally come, and all the relatives – including Carolyn Roy Lusk, the only surviving niece or nephew -- can take solace in that.

Chattanoogans who greatly appreciate those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to help maintain America’s freedoms can appreciate the final chapter of Sgt. Roy’s story as well.

“I am so thankful Sanford is being recognized. I never thought this would happen,” said Mr. Broadrick, adding that he also feels for the nine other men aboard that B-24H plane and their families.

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To see Sanford Roy’s full obituary, read here.

https://www.chattanoogan.com/2025/3/29/501432/Roy-Sanford-Gordon.aspx

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Jcshearer2@comcast.net