Paul Roy

Paul D. Roy’s Obituary
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Paul D. Roy on September 15, 2019, at the age of 82 years. He was born Paul Emile Edouard Denis Roy on October 9, 1936 in High Prairie, Alberta. Parents, Pascaline (nee Vanderaegen) & Leopold Roy had 11 other children, Paul was the 6th. He is predeceased by siblings: Jeanne Abramowich; Theresa Wilkinson; Antoinette, Jean, Ben & Charlie.
Paul is loved and missed by: wife of 61 years Mary (Terttu); children: Patricia, Nini (Dave), Charles & Denis (Ding); grandchildren: Matt (Owen), Connie (Jeevan), Kirsten, Amber, & Devon; great grandchildren: Sashan, Nevan, Milana & Scarlett; siblings: Max, Monica O’Keeffe, Margaret (George) Burbidge, Jim (Sylvia), Pierre; and his many nieces & nephews.
“Mr. Railroad” was a friendly hardworking passionate railroader. He started working for Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1956, then worked for: Northern Alberta Railway (NAR), Pacific Great Eastern (PGE), Canadian National (CN), & BC Rail. Paul worked many positions on the railroad starting as a Section man & Foreman; Telegraph Operator, Assistant Agent, Agent, Train Dispatcher, Chief Train Dispatcher, Rules Instructor & Senior Train Supervisor at Robert’s Bank. He retired after 32 years of service.
He always worked more than one job, some of his 2nd jobs which sometimes turned out to be “a family outing” like: vending machines, taxi driver, TV repairman, grocery delivery, delivering flyers and magazines.
Paul was a collector of railroad memorabilia. At one time, Paul had the largest private railroadiana collection in Canada which all started with a switch key. He “worked”, more like played with his railway hobby by leading/organizing work parties to construct various mini rails for various associations/clubs; entrepreneur and founder for Western Rails, Paroni Enterprises and PDR’s Train Shop; & traveler, he (& Mary) rode the rails of the world and meet other railroaders.
He collected many pieces of railroad memorabilia as well as full scale locomotives and cars, for example, an Electric Locomotive #6001 donated to the Railway Forest Museum in Prince George; a private rail car named “Marjatta” dedicated after his wife & also helped fund the “Paul D Roy” car. Both rail cars are parked at the West Coast Railway Assoc. (WCRA) museum in Squamish. Paul has already donated some of his railroadiana collection to a few BC museums: Port Moody, Squamish and Prince George.
Paul and Mary focused a lot of energy organizing work parties and supervising the construction & operations of the minirail at WCRA. Their work parties always had a good volunteer turnout with Paul organizing the workers and Mary feeding them all lunch. What a team! During the off season, e.g. Christmas and Halloween, they operated the mobile minirail track with railcars for children to ride at a couple lower mainland shopping malls, parking lots & Canada Place, with all the proceeds going to WCRA. Paul funded & dedicated the “Silver Fox Station” in memory of his mother. And WCRA dedicated a Minirail Shop to Paul for “Outstanding Support and Vision of the Minirail Venture.”
Paul founded and chaired the Western Rails Railroadiana Show in Burnaby. It was known as the largest Railroadiana Show in Canada. Paul chaired the show for over 20 years. The show enable Paul and his railroad friends to display and sell their railroad treasures and Paul’s network grew to include more of BC, Alberta, & Washington State. What really expanded his network of railway collectors came when he became Vice President International Support for the Railroadiana Collectors Association for 18 years, now he was not only networking in North America but worldwide using his French language skills.
In 1976, Paul traveled across Canada with Mary recruiting train dispatchers for the Canadian Association of Train Dispatchers (CATD). He single handedly increased membership from 20 to 550 members and recruited members from most of provinces.
Paul was a member of many clubs, associations and received many awards and commendation over the years:
• Inducted into the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in 2009, in Recognition of Outstanding Achievement as a Hero in the Canadian Railway Industry
• Canadian Association of Train Dispatchers, member since 1976, President for 20 years & became Life Time Member in 2011
• West Coast Railway Association, Volunteer of the Year 1995 & 1996, Outstanding support 2002, Volunteer of the Year & Support Award 2004-2007, & Lifetime Membership
• Western Rails 1982 – 2011 was Show Chairman; Best in Show 2011, Award in Appreciation of Dedication, Leadership, Hospitality & Kindness Over the Years
• British Columbia Society of Model Engineers, Burnaby Central Railway – Lifetime Membership
• Iron Horse Park in Airdrie, AB – Award of Appreciation
• BC Rail Pioneers
• Morse Telegraph Club Inc.
• Key, Lock & Lantern
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the West Coast Railway Association. (WCRA Railway Heritage Park in Squamish).