Mrs. Lucie Claire Jehl Roy

COLUMBIA – Lucie Claire Roy, age 93, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, after several years of declining health. She was born in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, on January 23, 1925, daughter of Albert and Claire Jehl. After the war, she worked briefly in England, and then in the British consulate in Strasbourg. Following her marriage to Ross Roy in 1954, she moved to Montreal (where she worked for the French consul), Paris (where she worked for UNESCO), Tuscaloosa, Montreal again, and Lubbock, TX. After their final move, to Columbia in 1965, she worked at the Hall Institute till retirement. She supported Ross’s research, proofreading The Letters of Burns (1985), and serving as business manager and associate editor for Studies in Scottish Literature (1963-2007). Together, they were generous donors to many charities, preeminently to the G. Ross Roy Collection of Robert Burns, University of South Carolina Libraries. Her smile and gourmet cooking will be remembered by the many friends, students and overseas visitors she welcomed to their home.

She was predeceased by her husband, Professor G. Ross Roy, and by their daughter, Dr. Madeleine Roy. Surviving relatives include her sister, Mme Marie-Madeleine Jehl (Strasbourg), and Ross’s nephews, Alex Gillon (Bend, OR), and Kenneth Thorpe (Montreal). Special thanks to her caregivers in recent years, including Constance Lewis, Pat Staples, Sansista Price, Sonovia Bradshaw and her care manager, Gale Bostick.

Funeral will be private, with burial in Montreal.

Memorials may be made to: The Women’s Shelter, 3425 North Main Street, Columbia, SC 29203; or to the G. Ross & Lucie Roy Fund, USC Educational Foundation, 1027 Barnwell Street, Columbia, SC 29208. Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, is assisting the family.

Memories may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com.