Roy Cullwell Thurlkill
November 22, 1916 - October 15, 2005

    Roy Cullwell Thurlkill, of Fall City, died on Saturday, October 15, 2005 as the result of an automobile accident on Highway 18 in Maple Valley.  He was on his way to the Wagon Wheel's dance and in costume.  He was 88 years old.

     Roy was born on November 22, 1916 in Union County, Arkansas, the son of John and Hattie Thurlkill.  He was raised in El Dorado, Arkansas.  He graduated from the University of Arkansas and married Leila M. Powell on September 8, 1943 in Denver, Colorado.  From 1939 to 1945 he served in the US Army Air Corp as a bomber pilot.

He operated a ranch in Danville, Arkansas for several years.  He worked for Hughes and Douglas Aircraft in California as an electrician and metal fitter. 

The family moved to Fall City in 1969.  He retired from the US Postal Service on Mercer Island in 1982 after 20 years of service. 

     He was a member of the Redmond Senior Center, Issasquaws & Braves Square Dance Club, the Wagon Wheel Square Square Dance Club, Clog Hoppers and the Fall City United Methodist Church.  In his leisure time he enjoyed his farm animals, gardening, all forms of dancing, and spending time with his friends and family.

     In addition to his wife Leila, survivors include three sons Thomas Thurlkill, of Commerce City, Colorado, Keith Thurlkill, of Missoula, Montana, Michael Thurlkill, of Issaquah; daughter Kathleen Eagle, of Arcadia, Florida; seven grandchildren; and four great grandchildren.

     A memorial service was held on Thursday, October 20, 2005 at the Fall City United Methodist Church followed by a committal service with military honors at the Tahoma National Cemetery in Maple Valley.

During the February 7^th dance honoring Jeff Graeff prior to his leaving for Iraq, several of us were talking and reminded that Roy Thurlkill had served in World War II as a bomber pilot on a B 24.  I thought it would be interesting to have some on Roy’s exploits in a Wagon Track issue.  Jim Well asked Roy about it and Roy showed us an article from the February “Fall City Neighbors.”

It was written by Sally Miller, Roy’s neighbor.  Rather that let an all ready article go to waste, here is Ms. Miller’s article about her neighbor and our friend, Roy.

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My Neighbor, Roy C. Thurlkill

by Sally Miller, 4^th grade, Fall City Elementary School

             Roy Cullwell Thurlkill was born in a log house on November 22, 1917 near El Dorado, Arkansas, in a community called Rabbit Town.  There were eight kids in his family, including himself.  The log house in which he lived had no electricity until Roy wired it himself at age 19.

            Roy had three aunts and four uncles.  His mother, uncle, and brother were all cross-eyed.  His cross-eyed brother was an excellent shot.  Roy's brother could shoot a squirrel in mid-leap with a pistol.  One day, he also shot an apple off of Roy's head with a .22 rifle. 

            Roy's parents were vegetable farmers. They sold their vegetables to oil field workers for money during the Depression.

            As a boy, Roy went to a four-room schoolhouse that consisted of twelve grades.  Roy said: "There were three people in my 12^th grade class, and one third of them flunked out."

            Roy enjoyed bullfrog hunting in the summer, and rabbit hunting in the winter.  He hunted at night.  He used a carbide headlamp so he could see where be was going.         Also, the headlamp made the animals' eyes light up so Roy could see where to shoot.  Roy sold the bullfrogs and rabbits on market day.  He could sell some of the really big rabbits for $1.00 each.  Roy says, “Rabbit is good with barbecue sauce."  In addition, Roy hunted opossums and raccoons for their pelts.

            Because there was no TV back when Roy was a child, he spent time playing basketball and baseball.  He made his baseballs out of string and old rubber balls.

            As a boy growing up in southern Arkansas, he had to watch out for a lot of snakes.  Some of the snakes were poisonous!  Because of this, Roy always looked where he stepped.  And you know what?  He still does!  Roy never misses a coin on the ground.

            During two years of college at Arkansas A&M, Roy enjoyed acrobatics and dancing.  Then, he joined the Air Force Academy where he trained to be a pilot. 

            In 1941, Roy met his future wife, Leila Powell, at a church social.  They married in 1943.  In that same year, Roy was accepted into the US Air Force as 2nd Lieutenant.

            During World War II Roy was a co-pilot on a B-24 bomber.  He was the second smallest pilot in the 8th Air Force.  He weighed only 117 pounds.  Roy and his crew joked that he was so small that they could carry an extra bomb!

            After Roy got out of the Air Force, he finished college on the GI bill.  He earned a degree in agriculture at Arkansas University.  After college, Roy managed a 2500-acre cattle ranch in Arkansas.  Later, he became a postal carrier in southern California.

            Roy and Leila had three boys and one girl.  Roy moved to Fall City in 1968.  His family followed a year later.  Before retiring, Roy worked for post offices in Seattle, Mercer Island, and Issaquah.

            Roy loves to square dance.  He has been square dancing for 43 years.  He square dances on a float in the Fall City Days parade.  He also enjoys clogging, line dancing, swing dancing, and the hula, but no belly dancing or ballet!

            Roy is a great gardener. He grows corn, pumpkins, plums, apples, peaches, cherries, figs, dahlias, grapes, garlic and kiwi.  He even grows horseradish.

            Roy has about 16 animals: four goats, two sheep (with four or five horns), a cat, and about nine chickens.  His goats' names are Morning and Kathy.

            As my neighbor, I walk by Roy's house almost every day.  He's usually gardening or feeding his animals.  Often, he's on his way to visit his wife who is temporarily at a nursing home in Issaquah recovering from surgery.

            Roy always has a smile saved just for me!

The end!

Just in case you wanted to know what a B-24 looks like, I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph one on display at the Museum of Flight in late 2003.

We all knew that Roy was a member of the Issasquaws and Braves Square Dance Club

but few of us knew this.

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Issasquaws & Braves Square Dance Club

1975-2005

 Square dancing in Issaquah had an irregular past.  Old timers related of having square dances in the old Grange Hall, now the Mercantile Building on Front Street North.  During the 10 years prior to 1975 no organized effort of any consequence took place.  In 1975 Ben & Ida Iverson, Fred & Phyllis Lind, and Roy & Leila Thurlkill found a caller, Jim Windler, and so it was following the ninth full moon of 1975, Friday night classes were established at the Mercantile Building (known as the “Tiltin Hilton” for its sloping floor).  That was the beginning of the Issasquaws & Braves Square Dance Club.

It seems ironic that Roy's death was the same year that the Issasquaws and Braves disbanded.

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