Friends miss the talented Roy Small

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Roy C. Small -- longtime general manager of The Daily Register until 1988, singer, photographer, former state Representative and provider for abandoned animals -- died Tuesday in Madison, Md., where he had been living for the past year.

Small&#39;s father, Curtis, Roy and his brother John Richard Small all worked at The Daily Register under Daisy Seright. Seright and Curtis Small died, J.R. Small became editor and Roy Small became general manager and chief stockholder until he sold the newspaper to American Publishing Company in 1988.

Friends of Small recall him as a brilliant man with a photographic memory and who enjoyed challenging himself. Former city editor Dennis DeRossett, who now works for the Illinois Press Association, recalls the three Smalls when he arrived in spring of 1977 to interview for a job he did not expect to be given. Fresh from journalism school at Southern Illinois University, DeRossett believed he looked the part of a college kid of that era with hair to his shoulders and a beard.

"I had to make a good impression so I got my hair cut, but couldn&#39;t bring myself to shave off my beard," DeRossett said.

On the drive to interview he decided he was not going to be clean-cut enough to be hired. He was pleasantly surprised when he walked in the room.

"There was Curtis, J.R. and Roy all with white beards," he said.

DeRossett worked at the newspaper for two years. He knew he could write, but had no photography experience. In addition to his contributions to the newspaper, Small operated his own professional photography business across Vine Street from "The Daily Register" office and took DeRossett under his wing.

"Roy gave me a full lesson and sent me out on my first assignment. He sent me out expecting me to take a picture and it turned out great," DeRossett said.

That first assignment was a photo of a new Jeep brush truck purchased by the Harrisburg Fire Department. Chief Looney Martin and firefighters Randy Reed, Frankie Banks, Jerry Pry and other stood with their newest piece of rural firefighting equipment, DeRossett said.

"Roy had a style where he always sounded serious, but was always throwing in bits of humor or sarcasm. It sometimes took a bit to realize it was sarcasm. He had a serious voice and approach, but once you knew him you knew there were a lot of one-liners," DeRossett said.

DeRossett said any time he had a question about local politics, Small was the man with the answer. Covering governing bodies of the city and county DeRossett frequently needed insight into the bodies&#39; histories.

"I could ask him anything without looking it up. Anything about politics in Saline County, Roy was a walking encyclopedia," DeRossett said.

The Daily Register/Daily Journal Publisher George Wilson also regarded Small as a mentor.

"Roy gave me a management opportunity at The Daily Register in 1984. I learned a great deal about the business side of newspapers during four years of his leadership. He was dedicated to The Daily Register, and was an inspiration to his employees. He will be missed by many," Wilson said.

Ed Miller worked as a reporter and photographer at the newspaper for a few years until 1965 and during that time helped Small in his campaign for state Representative. Miller said the ballot was referred to as a "bedsheet ballot" because there were so many running for the office.

"He was successful and because of that he gave me a Case Bowie knife," Miller said.

Miller said Small also supported him at age 21 when he joined the Harrisburg Masonic Lodge of which Small was president at the time.

Don Nelson, Small&#39;s pastor at Bankston Fork Baptist Church then Wasson Baptist Church, remembers one example of Small&#39;s keen memory.

Nelson said it was not unusual for people saying they were down on their luck to stop at the church during Sunday services asking for assistance. A typical tale was an uncle in New Mexico was dying and the travelers needed money for travel expenses to see their uncle one last time.

Nelson or a deacon would send these people to Small who managed the fund set aside to help those in need.

One man was telling a deacon his sad story when Small asked the man a question.

"Roy said, &#39;Didn&#39;t you come here before?&#39; He said, &#39;No, I&#39;ve never been to these parts before,&#39;" Nelson said.

Small said he remembered the man&#39;s license plate number and recited it to him. Nelson said the man, realizing he had been caught in a lie, got in his car and drove away.

Nelson was neighbors to Roy and Jean Small when they bought property on Old Route 13 west of Harrisburg which they called the Goose Pond Farm.

Small answered the telephone from there in his deep voice with the greeting of, "Goose Pond."

Small helped his wife who was dedicated to taking in abandoned cats, dogs and other pets and finding them new homes.

Nelson baptized Small as pastor of the church and Roy was always there to help if the church needed help with a project.

One of those projects Nelson needed help with was performing a last wish for Rodney Meyers. Meyers asked Nelson to read the 23 Psalm from his mother&#39;s Bible at his funeral service. Nelson agreed before he realized Meyer&#39;s mother&#39;s Bible was written in German, which he did not know.

Knowing Small spoke German, Nelson consulted with him and Small agreed. Meyers agreed it would be fine if Small read the passage.

"German people kept coming by and saying how nice it was," Nelson said.

Small was noted for his deep voice and his musical talent.

"Roy could play any kind of instrument. He could hear a note and knew what note it was. He had perfect pitch," Nelson said.

Small was a performer, participating in the Easter Tableau of the First United Methodist Church and at singing events at Southeastern Illinois College.

He sang at a singing festival in Golconda and gained the attention of the dean of Southern Illinois University&#39;s music school. The man asked Small if he wanted to be a "bathtub baritone" for the rest of his life or would he like to hone his gifts, Nelson said. The man asked Small to come to his church in Carbondale to sing and in exchange provided Small free vocal coaching.

"He was in demand as a vocal soloist," Nelson said.

Jean has always had a soft spot for animals and Roy had a soft spot for Jean, so he supported her in offering pet grooming and animal rescue at their Goose Pond farm.

He wrote in a note to Nelson about his reaction to people who said they, too, would like to offer such a service. Small wrote he always had to bite his tongue.

"I thought rescuing stray dogs and cats was a good thing," Small wrote.

Then he added up the costs and learned the two had spent $37,000 on veterinarian bills during their first year of operation and that did not count costs of cages, bedding, food, gas and related expenses.

"Aside from the finances, it&#39;s probably good to be doing something you enjoy and it also gets me outside a lot," Small wrote.

Nelson said rarely did he stop by Goose Pond when there were not helpless creatures in unexpected places.

"You&#39;d go in the bathroom and there would be ducks in the bathtub, ducks they&#39;d rescued, or kittens," Nelson said.

"I think a lot of times Roy didn&#39;t get a bath for all the critters in the bathtub."

Nelson was assistant manager at Tractor Supply Company and arranged for the store to donate animal food to the Goose Pond charity.

Nelson said at one point Small decided he was going to take up farming. He had no farming background and was not in good physical shape, having suffered infantile paralysis in fifth grade that left him with a limp, but enjoyed operating the tractor discing, mowing and plowing.

Nelson said people continue to remind him of a performance on WEBQ&#39;s Baptist Hour Small helped him with. Nelson had been coon hunting on muleback with deacons from his church the night prior and had been scraped up royally. Nelson took inspiration from his experience and decided to tell about it over the radio -- the time he was supposed to be telling a sermon. He had Small read the story from the Book of Numbers about Balaam&#39;s donkey that crashed Balaam into an obstacle trying to save Balaam&#39;s life and Balaam kicked at the donkey to urge it onward.

Small read the passage and made mention of how mules can be contrary before segueing into Nelson&#39;s coon hunting tale by saying, "I see the scar on your face is coming on pretty good."

Nelson said the experiment had mixed results with some loving the tale and some deeming it highly inappropriate for a religious broadcast.

Nelson said Small was among the most talented men he ever met with an uncanny knack for retaining information.

"If you had a question about a bird or anything in that swamp, he could tell you something about it," Nelson said.

"It was marvelous how talented he was," Nelson said.

Former Saline County Sheriff George Henley first met Small in school and though their friendship began on rocky ground, they remained lifelong friends.

"We started the first grade together and have been friends all my life," Henley said.

"He was the first guy I ever whipped."

The fight began over a harmless kissing game taken too far.

"He took my girlfriend," Henley said, and apparently took more time with her than Henley&#39;s patience allowed.

The two agreed to let bygones be bygones and ran around together until their families and careers mainly limited their friendship to telephone calls.

"He&#39;s called me twice in the last month and I knew he was on his way out. He didn&#39;t tell me that, but I knew from what he said," Henley said.

Small was consistently top in his class through school and into University of Illinois, Henley said.

The two were in band together.

"He played the trombone and sat behind me and I played the clarinet. He&#39;d hit me in the head with his trombone slide," Henley said.

Henley misses his inspiring friend.

"He was extremely smart and a fine guy," he said.

Small&#39;s marks two deaths in their class.

"We lost another good friend (Tuesday). Marilyn Burklow was in the same class and ran with us, the same grade," he said.

Jean Small said her husband&#39;s health began failing shortly after Thanksgiving. He had been in hospitals and rehabilitation centers for months with Clostridium difficile, a disease of the intestine that can be communicable.

Jean and Small were married in 1984 and bought the Goose Pond after Small sold the newspaper. The two loved the acreage and turned it into a wildlife refuge. They later raised Scottish highland cattle on the land.

The two moved to be with family in December 2010.

"I think it was on a Tuesday after Thanksgiving we had to take him to the hospital. He just kind of went downhill from there," Jean said.

Prior to his illness, Small kept an active social life in Maryland. He had been volunteering at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, enjoying breakfast with other retired men and singing in a community and church choir.

"He liked to talk to people," Jean said.

The family is planning to hold a memorial service in Harrisburg in March with the details to be determined.