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October 2, 1932 was the day Roy Lee Dorris first saw the light of this world and saw it from a sharecropper’s home on XXX (Triple X) Road in Choctaw, Oklahoma. That light went out and a brighter one appeared for him on Saturday, September 23, 2023, the day he peacefully left this world with his wife, children, and grandchildren surrounding him.
Roy attended Choctaw Elementary School for first and second grades before moving to Bethany where he graduated from Bethany High School. Two attempts at college were made. On the second, he came under the tutelage of Professor Robert G. Lawrence who sparked an interest in learning that never ended. During his second year at SNU, Roy married the love of his life, Rebecca Joy Wachtel. After earning a bachelor’s degree, he went on to earn a master’s degree, and his doctor’s degree in pharmacology from Vanderbilt University.
Roy served on the faculties of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Baylor College of Dentistry and Graduate School, Texas A&M Health Science Center, and University of North Texas Health Science Center. During those years, he conducted basic research on how certain neurological drugs act on the brain. Results of his work may be found in approximately thirty published manuscripts in medical school libraries around the world. After retirement, a return to his hometown, Bethany, Oklahoma, was made and he served for a few years as adjunct professor in the chemistry department of Southern Nazarene University.
Roy was a life-time member of the Association of Pharmacology and Experimental Medicine. He was a member of Bethany First Church of the Nazarene and the Kumjoynus Sunday School class. For more than ten years, he served as treasurer of the the Academy of Senior Professionals at SNU, of which he was a member. He also served as a trustee of the Bethany Public Schools Foundation for more than ten years. Roy was a veteran, having served on active duty with the Air National Guard during the Korean War, and he continued to serve in the Guard for several years after the war.
Roy enjoyed playing fast-pitch softball and was pitcher for his church team for many years. At age 50, he took up long distance running and ran many 10 kilometer races in the Dallas and Oklahoma City areas. At age 60, he ran the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon (26.2 miles) and won first place in his age division. He went on to run the first two Oklahoma City Memorial Marathons, winning 2nd place in his age group. He ran as a member of a 5-person relay team in the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. This team represented Bethany Public Schools and included a teacher, student, administrator, alumnus, and parent. He also ran several times in the Swazi 5k.
Roy was preceded in death by his father, Walter James Dorris; mother, Beulah Blakley Dorris; older brother, Robert; sister, Roberta Hibbert; and younger brothers, Curtis and Harold.
He is survived by his wife, Rebecca; son, Joe and his wife, Judy, and their sons: J.W, Wesley, David Lee Dorris and his wife, Autumne, and Cody Wilks; daughter, Becky Cox and husband Jeff and their daughters: Callee Mason and husband Johnny, and Becca Leeseberg and husband Christian; son, Jim-David and his wife, Allison, and their children: Emma-Kate and Brody. Roy had seven great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, you may donate to the SNU Thelma Rose Scholarship at Southern Nazarene University, 6729 NW 39th Expressway, Bethany, OK 73008 (405-491-6311).
Memorial services will be Sunday, November 12, 3:00 p.m. at Bethany First Church of the Nazarene. The service will be livestreamed
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