Bob Roy, 91 years young

1. What is your earliest memory?
I was probably 5 years old and I can remember it pretty clear. I told my mother, I’m taking my brother and we’re leaving to Canada!” He was just a baby.

2. What was your first job?
I was a paper boy in Chicago. I started my paper routes about 9 years old. I delivered both the Chicago Tribune and the SunTime about once per week. One route at 6 am and one in the afternoon. I did it all year round. I would purchase all of the papers from the company and distribute them. Then I’d collect payment from my customers and if they didn’t pay me I had to eat the cost.

3. What was the weirdest fad you remember?
I think that would have to be zoot suits, they were just odd. Tight ankles, bloomer like elsewhere and just exaggerated. I never found them to be anything to admire , they just looked foolish.

4. What life advice would you pass along?
Everyone needs someone. Companionship is one of the most important things in life.

5. What moments in your life are you most proud of?
I completed 29 years, 6 months and 27 days in the United States Air Force and retired as an E9 Chief Master Sargent. Earning that rank, hearing folks call me “Sarg”, that was really something. There were some really hard times, and I was afforded a lot of opportunity and was able to see a lot of the world. I retired right here in Colorado Springs from NORAD, Aerospace Defense Command.

6. How would you say your dreams and goals have changed throughout your life?
During my college years I thought I was going to be a fighter pilot, but then I joined the Air Force and when they tested my eyes, they told me that I was colorblind. Pilots can’t be colorblind. In my younger years I was quite good at baseball; I could pitch and play first, but primarily I played outfield. There were talks of being contracted with the St. Louis Cardinals, but I enlisted.

7. What invention from your lifetime are you most amazed by?
TVs have come a long way. Most of my childhood, we didn’t have a TV. We were in awe when black and white film came out and then color. It was like you had a personal performance right in your living room. I specifically remember us having a Spartan TV and around the mid 40’s a crystal TV, that was an interesting concept.

8. What is your magic potion for staying healthy? What would you attribute your longevity to?
Honestly, what is really important to me is that I live a moral and honest life. I have strong will power, determination, natural grit and I’m driven.

9. If you could back in time to be any age again, what would it be and why?
I would have liked to have finished college first before I enlisted in the Air Force. I enlisted before I was drafted. I’ve seen how wart can change people. My dad was in the 85th Nova Scotia Highlanders Battalion and was injured in France. He was blown up by a hand grenade and survived. At 14 I didn’t feel too young to be picked up by the military. That was scary to me, I wasn’t ready for that.

10. What are the most rewarding things about getting older?
I like the senior discounts and benefits. They’re nice perks.

Bob Roy, 91 years young

Thank you to our Sponsor