Roy “Roy Boy” William Kaufmann, passed away peacefully at his home, Sept, 3, 2018, exactly one month shy of 96 years old.
Born in 1922, in St. Louis, Mo., he lived there before moving to Kalamazoo, where he met his first wife Honey Ward. They lived in Plainwell and Allegan before moving, for a brief stint, to Newport Beach, Calif.
Roy managed the Ward family business Allegan Lumber Yard and Paper Cities Lumber Yard. He lived several years overseas in Vietnam, The Philippines, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in contracted construction work, and finally settled down in Kill Devil Hills, N.C., in the Outer Banks in 1988. There, he married his present wife of 28 years Lan Bui.
An avid golfer, he could be found swinging the clubs at the Ot-Well-Egan Country Club while living in Allegan. Much later, after locating to Kill Devil Hills, he found his dream job working at Duck Woods Country Club for more than 20 years, where he scored the much sought after hole-in-one. He was loved by all the ladies at Duck Woods because he always treated them like royalty.
He came close to losing his life one day, however, in the canal alongside Hole 2 when his golf cart tipped over into it. He was saved by David Bentley, for which we are very grateful.
He loved music, often singing and whistling, and right up to the end, could finish song lyrics and music when prompted.
He served in the United States Army during World War II.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, his first wife Honey Ward and his son Bruce Kaufmann.
He is survived by his wife Lan; his daughter Kim (Kaufmann) Elliott; two granddaughters, Emily (James) Horein and Jenica (Garrett) Polifka; his two great-granddaughters, Evie and Kaiah Polifka; and two nieces.
No service is planned.
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