Obituary: Roy Curtis Small
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Roy Curtis Small passed away Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, at Signature Healthcare at Mallard Bay in Cambridge, Md. Roy is survived by his wife, Jean Small, of Madison, Md.
Roy's sister is Leta Rhinehart of Lynchburg, Va.; children, Leta Blanton (Robert) of Owensboro, Ky., Mary Stocker of Newburgh, Ind., Kathy Abend (Rick) of Madison, Md., Jackie Weems of Mount Vernon, Michael Snodgrass of Columbia, Mo., Roger Snodgrass (Patty) of Carrier Mills and Christopher Woods of Carmi; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Roy and Jean had lived just outside Harrisburg on their farm which was appropriately named "Goose Pond Farm" for all the thousands of migrating geese who lived on the farm in the winters.
Mom and Roy moved to Maryland in December 2010 to live with Kathy and her husband on our farm. We have enjoyed having them here. There's never been a dull moment with them around. Our farm is a Maryland Stewardship Forestry Farm, which means we manage our farm and forest acreage for wildlife habitat. We all spent hours together drinking coffee on our deck in the mornings watching the whitetail and sika deer, wild turkeys, and of course geese that live on our property. Roy and Mom have taught us all so much about the birds and nature. Mom and Roy fit right in here in Maryland.
We transported Roy's tractor and bush hog out to our farm from Illinois so he would be able to continue to be active here with us with equipment he and Mom were familiar with. He and my husband worked together and kept our farm roads and CRP ground mowed. Roy and Mom started some bee hives on our farm last year. They spent a lot of time teaching us and our grandchildren about caring for bees. There was a time on their farm in Illinois they had 14 hives.
Our farm is just up the road from Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, and Roy was volunteering at the refuge twice a week. Since the job they gave him involved a lot of talking, he was very successful at it. He really enjoyed all the visitors. He even met some who came from China.
Roy made regular trips into Cambridge, the closest town to us, to the library just like he did when he was in Harrisburg. He was always reading something. He also made trips to Wal-Mart quite often. He was on a first name basis with almost everyone who worked there, and they enjoyed helping him find his way around.
He would go to the Woolford Store about two miles from our farm to have breakfast with the other retired guys on occasion and of course, solve all the world's problems. He made so many friends here in Maryland.
Roy was involved in the local community choir and his church choir, which he enjoyed.
His last days were spent comfortably at Mallard Bay where he had gone for therapy to help him get stronger. He made such an impression on everyone who worked there. He sang to them, told his stories, and even giving the sermon on Christmas morning.
Mother and Roy prefer that no flowers be sent. They would prefer people donate in Roy's honor to the Harrisburg Memorial Library or an animal shelter. Mom and Roy rescued hundreds and perhaps thousands of abused and abandoned animals of all kinds during their years together.