Roy James Hamilton
Dec 6, 1959 - Sep 23, 2017

Roy James Hamilton, age 57, went home to his Creator on Saturday, September 23, 2017 at Sparks Hospital in Ft. Smith, Arkansas.

Roy was born December 6, 1959 in Stilwell, Oklahoma to Herbert and Jewell Dean (Morton) Hamilton.

Roy graduated from Stilwell High School in 1978. He attended the University of Oklahoma in Norman and Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, where he pursued a career in journalism. While at NSU, Roy enjoyed utilizing his creativity as editor of the Redman Newspaper. Roy wrote "Ned Christie Cherokee Warrior" and edited the anthology "Cherokee Writers from the Flint Hills of Oklahoma."

Roy was a proud Cherokee Citizen and Christie descendant. He was employed at the Cherokee Nation as a special projects officer at the time of his death. During his tenure, he worked as a genealogist, historian and cultural presenter.

Roy was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Carol Woodward, niece Rhonda Woodward and great-niece Jelisa Sanchez, as well as his beloved grandmother Peggy Sue (Christie) Morton.

Roy is survived by his four brothers, Allen (Theda) Hamilton, Delbert (Connie) Hamilton, Preston (Nancy) Hamilton and Robert Hamilton, all of Stilwell. He is also survived by two nieces, seven nephews, eight great-nieces, seven great-nephews, as well as two great-great - nephews Weston Roy Hamilton and Ruger Lane Simmons. Special friends who survive him include Gene Norris of Tahlequah, Sam Yanez- Reed of Dallas, Robert Catron of Stilwell, Dawnena Squirrel and Chooge Mackey of Kenwood and Catherine, Mason, Jayden and Elias Gray of Ft. Smith, Ark., as well as many other friends and relatives.

A Cherokee Celebration of Roy's Life was held on Tuesday, September 26; funeral services will be held at Roberts/Reed- Culver Funeral Home in Stilwell on Wednesday, September 27, 2017 at 1 p.m. with Ryan Mackey officiating with interment in Freewater Cemetery, Stilwell, Oklahoma