Necrology
William Andrew Royer '70
Jul. 13, 1948-Jun. 26, 2023
William Anthony Royer ’70 died on June 26, 2023, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Born in Indianapolis on July 13, 1948, Bill came to Hamilton from Broad Ripple High School. As he noted in his college application, one of his favorite subjects in high school was French. As events would prove, teaching that language and the culture associated with it would define his career.
On the Hill, Bill was a member of Sigma Phi fraternity, majored in French and Francophone studies, was a member of the French Club as a sophomore, and participated in Hamilton’s Junior Year in France, in the course of which he formed a close and enduring friendship with Professor of French James Davis and his wife, Françoise. He also participated in at least two productions by the Charlatans during his senior year and was on the staff of The Spectator throughout his time on the Hill, save for his junior year.
He was reportedly involved in another short-lived extracurricular activity in January 1968: a hoax in which Bill and three of his buddies somehow managed to get the telephone number of then-treasurer of Australia, William McMahon. One of the students called Mr. McMahon, identifying himself as Joseph Barr, the undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury who was allegedly in Utica on official business. “Mr. Barr” told Mr. McMahon that the United States’s balance of payments was worsening and that President Lyndon B. Johnson was afraid that a tax bill he was proposing would not pass if Congress learned of the high rate of payments the nation was being forced to make. “Mr. Barr” then asked Australia’s treasurer if he had any advice on how to resolve the matter.
As it happened, Australia was at the time negotiating a large loan from the U.S., and this communication apparently briefly caused no little consternation. Time passed and Andrew Daigle, a special agent of the FBI based in Syracuse, made his way to Hamilton where he met with Dean Hadley Depuy and the four perpetrators. Alex Cruden ’68, the reporter assigned to the story by the Utica Observer-Dispatch, indicated that neither the students nor the dean confirmed or denied the story. Needless to say, this was one of Bill’s happiest memories of life on the Hill.
He may have contemplated a career in higher education when he began graduate study at Indiana University in the fall of 1970, but after completing a master’s degree in French literature in 1972, Bill looked for a teaching job at the high school level. Applying to several private schools, he was approached by the McCallie School for Boys in Chattanooga. As recounted in a memorial published by the school, Bill once said: “I have never been in the South. I arrived in Chattanooga in 1972 because I needed a job, and McCallie needed a French teacher. Before I knew it McCallie had become home. The students became my family.”
McCallie was Bill’s professional home for 40 years during which time he had three distinct areas of responsibility. Most obvious was his classroom instruction in French, but Bill’s devotion to the study of French and French culture was not confined there. Portions of many summers were devoted to guiding students, faculty, and parents on trips to France, visits that included introductions to various French cuisines as he escorted his entourage to restaurants around the country where his epicurean tastes were already well known.
Second was a set of administrative responsibilities as chair of foreign languages, director of the theatre program, and advisor to the student pep club and leadership program.
Most influential perhaps was his role as head of the South Hutcheson residence hall, enabling him to become a mentor, counselor, and, ultimately, friend to hundreds of boarding students over his long career. Over the years that friendship was repaid as he traveled across the country to visit alumni and attend their weddings, birthdays, children’s baptisms, and other events. Reunions, fundraising phonathons, and other alumni activities provided more occasions for reconnecting with former students not only while he taught at McCallie but also after he retired.
For his contributions to the school, Bill was honored on at least three occasions. In 1995, he received the Keo-Kio Distinguished Teacher Award. In 1996 and again in 2011, he received the Houston Patterson ’43 Faculty Service Award for Residential Life to acknowledge his influence on the boarding community of McCallie. Further honors were bestowed upon him when he retired.
After leaving McCallie, Bill traveled, continued as a volunteer for the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera, brushed up on his bridge game, cooked, and entertained.
Bill was among Hamilton’s most devoted alumni. Following graduation, he accepted the position of class correspondent. His first report appeared in the February 1971 issue of the alumni magazine. His last appeared in Glade & Glen in 2023. In all, he submitted more than 100 reports. He was also among the College’s most consistent donors, by 2016 having made contributions to the Hamilton Fund for 37 years. Bill served on his class’s committee, reunion gift committee, and the Alumni Council. He volunteered for the Priorities for Hamilton capital campaign, as well as for the Office of Admission and the Career Center.
His connections with classmates included being one of a group of four students who met in Professor Reuben Cholakian’s class on French literature of the 18th and 19th centuries, prepared for almost-daily quizzes together, and after graduation, met many times, most recently in 2020. James Harmon ’70 spoke with Bill shortly before his death and noted: “Bill’s generosity, wisdom, perspicacity, savoir faire, joie de vivre, and commitment to his principles never stopped growing.”
William A. Royer is survived by his sister-in-law.
