Wasco-Sherman-Multnomah County OR Archives Obituaries.....Talley, Roy Earl June 17, 2004
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Ila Wakley iwakley@msn.com March 28, 2006, 1:27 pm

The Dalles Chronicle,  June 22, 2004
     Roy Earl Talley, 87, Mayor of Wasco, died at his home on Thursday, June 
17, 2004.
     He was born in Rockyford, Colo., the oldest of four children to William 
Clyde and Mildred (Wheat) Tally. He was raised in Grays Harbor, Wash., 
graduating from Aberdeen High School. The family moved often, seeking fame and 
fortune, when he was a boy. They moved from the Southwest to the Midwest, and 
finally to the Northwest.
     He earned his airplane pilot’s license when he was 16 by forging his 
father’s signature. While reading the newspaper, his father saw the 
headline, “Roy Talley Solos”. Things were smoothed over after his father 
received a free airplane ride.
     His next endeavor was a short stint in professional boxing. During this 
same time, he married Maggie and had two sons. Along came World War II.      
He joined the U.S. Army and served in the Pacific Campaign with the 27th 
Infantry and 11th Airborne. He visited such landings as: Saipan, the retaking 
of Guam, Tinian and Okinawa. He liked to tell the story that while in the 
Pacific, he didn’t sleep in a bed for a year and was unable to take his shoes 
off for six months. 
     After the war, his situation changed. He married Delilah May Williver and 
had two more sons. He owned several businesses from agriculture to logging, 
finally landing the job of training lieutenant at Oregon State Penitentiary. 
In 1971, he started a new project, the first halfway house program for exiting 
inmates. 
     His wife died and he moved to Portland to run the halfway house program 
and asked one of the convicts to find him a temporary place to live. This man 
talked Wilma Jean Baker into having him as her roommate (although she had 
advertised for a woman roommate). They married right away. 
     After a few years, they moved to Wasco. 
     He is survived by four sons, Lance Talley, Shelton, Wash.; Samuel Talley, 
Gig Harbor, Wash.; Michael Talley, Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Roy Talley, Juliaetta, 
Idaho; two step-children, Delilah Slawson, Cosmopolis, Wash., and Jack “Pete” 
Smith; 11 grandchildren; numerous great-grandchildren; his adopted niece, 
Sally, and his adopted nephews, Ron Trembly and Larry Trembly, who preceded 
him in death, and other nieces and nephews; one sister, Virla Newton, Olympia, 
Wash. He was preceded in death by two sisters, Audrey and Orphy.
     He was an active member of the VFW, the Masonic Lodge, Rufus Grange, 
Retired OSP Organization, Windy River Gleaners, Senior Advisory Council, 
Pioneer Potlach, Sherman County Bus Board, Special Transportation Fund 
Advisory Board, Community Action Program, Mid-Columbia Council of Governments, 
Wasco City Council, Memorial Day Committee, Friends of the Library and a die-
hard Republican. 
     Memorial services will be held at the North Sherman Elementary School in 
Wasco, Oregon on Thursday, June 24, at 10 a.m. and graveside services will be 
held in Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, on Friday, June 25, at 1:30 
p.m. with Spencer, Libby and Powell Funeral Home in care of arrangements. 
     Memorial contributions may be made to Wasco Public Library, Wasco, OR 
97065.


Additional Comments:
Written permission to reprint given by The Dalles Chronicle, The Dalles, 
Oregon, Dan Spatz, Editor (e-mail dated 3/7/2006).


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