Roy "Jim" James Machesney

Roy Machesney was born in Pittsburgh, PA on March 30, 1945 to Elizabeth Machesney. He died April 7, 2015 after a long illness. He was married twice, First to Alice Hoffman Machesney, and then to Sandra Scott Machesney. He had three daughters, Sheryl Sanders of Evansville, Indiana; Tamera Machesney, of Choctaw, Oklahoma; and Wendy Mcclish of Choctaw, Oklahoma. He had two grandsons, Sean Sanders of Evansville, Indiana and Cody Thompson of Stillwater, Oklahoma. He was very excited to learn that he had a great-grandchild on the way by Cody. He served his country in the Navy, became a successful business man, and was a competitive dog show handler. But, this is only part of Roy’s story.

Roy, known as Jimmie or Jim to family, was born with a cleft palate that resulted in over a half dozen surgeries by the time he was a toddler. He grew up in a home full of love, but not a lot of necessities. This did nothing to quell his spirit. His favorite past times as a child were fishing, swimming, gymnastics, and getting into whatever trouble he and best friend Tim Callison could find. His only fear was the look on his grandmother’s face when he and Tim got caught.

At an early age, Roy’s grandmother insisted he take voice and accordion lessons. Though he did not like to practice, he loved to stand on his porch and play his accordion when people came to visit. Roy was so close to his grandmother that on her passing, he refused to play the accordion even though he was supposed to play with a group on a televised event. Roy did not play the accordion again, but did occasionally sing. At his former mother-in-law Lucille Hoffman’s funeral, Roy sang a hymn. Roy also sang The Lord’s Prayer at his wedding to Sandra Machesney.

In 1962, at the age of 17, Roy joined the Navy. As a Seaman, Roy was able to fulfill a long held desire to see the world. In his first years of service, Roy was stationed near Japan. In his last two years, he was stationed aboard the U.S.S Ticonderoga off the coast of Vietnam. During this time, he witnessed Bob Hope tee off the deck of the U.S.S. Ticonderoga in what has become an iconic moment in the history of the USO. For his service in the Navy, Roy received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (Vietnam), the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon, and the National Defense Service Medal. He was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1966 at the age of 21.

While in the hospital upon his release, He met a young nurse’s aide by the name of Alice Hoffman. Alice initially wanted nothing to do with Roy, but finally agreed to go out on a date with him if he promised to shave. The next day at work, Alice found Roy clean shaven. Roy and Alice were married six months later.

After exiting the Navy, Roy earned his GED and his Bachelor degree in Printing Management. He moved his family to Indiana where he eventually found a home in Evansville. He worked his way up in the field he loved, eventually becoming vice president of Tek Pak, a company which made packaging labels for pharmaceutical companies. He became known for his insistence on perfection in all the work he did. Many in the field had stated that if you could work for Roy and meet his standard, you would have no problem working for anyone else. Roy worked for Tek Pak for over 20 years before leaving.

During this period, Roy was also known as the guy who raced pigeons. True to the Machesney Standard, his pigeons were often winners and the envy of others in the sport. When he was not working or spending time with his family, he could be found nurturing his birds. Every October he worked the Racing Pigeon food booth at the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival in Evansville where he would stand outside the booth and shout “Hot Tamales, Apple Cider. Get your Hot Tamales & Apple Cider.”

In 1987 Roy was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. While recuperating, he enlisted the help of his daughter, Tamera, then 10 years old. It was Tamera’s job to help Roy gain his strength by going on long walks together. During this time, Tamera made a plan to surprise Roy with breakfast in bed before going on one of their walks. Tamera had planned the meal with the help of a kid’s cookbook, her best friend, and her mother Alice. The next day, Tamera woke to find that not only was Dad not in bed, but he had gone for a walk without her. Roy had wanted to let his daughter sleep in that day. When Tamera found out, she was very upset and proceeded to tell her father off. While she did agree to do breakfast on the couch instead of in bed, she made it known that Dad was not to go for walks without her anymore, no matter what time he woke up. Roy agreed.

When Tamera was in the Pride of Bosse Marching Band in high school, Roy volunteered to work in the Pitt Crew. His job was to help push the large drums and equipment for the performance to the sidelines. He was known as Papa Machesney, as one of the color guard members thought that Machesney was Italian, not Irish. Roy and Tamera also enjoyed watching old John Wayne & Chuck Norris movies together.

On April 27, 1996, Roy married his last and greatest love, Sandi Scott. They were introduced by Roy’s still best friend, Tim Callison. However, first Dad had to gain acceptance from Sandi’s maltese, Winston. Every time Roy would come around, Winston would find a way in between Roy and Sandi and growl. Winston was determined that Roy was not necessary and would not let Roy and Sandi get close. After one growl to many, Roy picked Winston up and growled back at him. Winston eventually had to concede that Roy was more stubborn than Winston and that it was okay if Winston and Roy shared Sandi.

Sandi and Roy shared many interests, including dog showing and traveling. After a stressful day, Roy would relax by grooming and training his Keeshonden and Dachshunds. Together Roy and Sandi traveled through Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas to countless dog shows. During their time together they finished around 20 champions. However, their greatest accomplishment was the rescue of over 200 dogs. In one year alone, they helped place over 49 dogs. It was not uncommon for Sandi to come home from work and find and extra dog in the yard. On one such occasion, Roy had been returning from Rose State when he saw a white shepherd mix running from car to car in the intersection. Roy pulled over, open the side door to the van, and the dog jumped in. On the way home, Roy called Sandi at work and told her about the new addition. To be fair, Sandi was never upset and used these incidents as reminders when she unexpectedly brought home a few extras of her own.

One morning after having coffee with his friends at his favorite diner in Choctaw, he fell in love with a sweet loving green eyed gray cat. Roy was not normally a cat person, but this one was hard to resist. After a few days of petting this cat outside the diner, Roy eventually took the cat home and named him Harley, in honor of the diner where they met.

Roy also enjoyed watching the squirrels run along the privacy fence outside his home. He loved riding his tractor into the field so he could watch the deer run and play.

Roy was very proud of all of his children and his accomplishments. Roy has recalled that on one trip back to Indiana to visit Sheryl and Sean they had stopped to get something to eat. While in the restaurant, an elderly person slipped and fell. Sheryl, having worked in a nursing home, was the first to respond and make sure the elderly person was okay. Roy stated he was proud that Sheryl responded so quickly and took charge of the situation.

Roy and Sandi’s last great adventure was to travel back east to see friends and family in May 2014. He was able to see the Smokey Mountains one last time, and spend time with his daughter Sheryl and grandson Sean. This was a great memory he cherished and spoke of often.

Roy also enjoyed spending time with his grandson Cody. They were often seen doing projects around the house together. One day, while attempting to cut up limbs left from a storm, Cody climbed on top of the roof to the kennel building in order to get to the limbs. Dad began yelling and screaming, nearly having a heart attack because he just knew that Cody was going to fall and/or cut off one of his own limbs. He then would not only lose a grandson, but he would have hell to pay from his daughter Wendy. Hell to pay from Wendy would be the last thing he wanted. This, of course, was only second to having hell to pay from Sandi.

During his final days, even though he was heavily medicated, Roy still responded to the names of his daughter Sheryl and grandson Sean. He also responded to Wendi and Cody as they visited with him in the hospital.

Roy enjoyed collecting anything related to the Navy, especially ball caps. He looked forward to seeing what new items Tamera could find for him. He cried when presented with a ball cap with the Ticonderoga on it. He got a kick out of a bear dressed as a sailor that was given to him during his last stay in the hospital. He also loved his truck, which, by the way, was Navy Blue, not Air Force Blue.

Roy was known for being a hard headed, stubborn perfectionist. He was also known for being kind hearted and loving. Roy was a 28 year cancer survivor, a 10 year stroke survivor, and a seven year heart bypass survivor.

In short, he was a fighter and a lover. He fought his way out of poverty. He fought for his country, and he fought for his family. He also fought against all his Doctor’s expectations. He truly loved God, his family, and animals. Upon his death, there is no doubt he was greeted by St. Peter, his mother and grandparents, and numerous dogs waiting to lick his face.

And now, he is an angel watching over us all.