I worked with Roy at El Camino College, Information Technology Services Division. He had a contagious smile and was knowledgeable and reliable. He would stop by my office daily to get a chocolate treat and sometimes vent.  When we started working from home, Roy made sure that my system was set up correctly and would call and email to make sure everything was working well. We will miss Roy. Condolences to Ellen, Aileen and all his family and friends.

My sincerest condolences to the Summers family.  

Roy was an incredibly sweet human being who always brought a smile to any room he entered.  His good hearted nature and abilty to talk to you as if he had known you for years will be greatly missed.  

My deepest condolences to the family of Roy Summers.  

Roy was a soft spoken, kind and intelligent co-worker.  He would share pictures of the El Camino cats with me, which always brought a smile to my face.

Sincerely,
Debbie Turano
El Camino College

To the Summers Family,

My prayers are with your family. Roy was a kind man with a kind heart. I am blessed that our paths crossed at El Camino. He was a man of few words, but the actions of his heart and his dedication to doing a job of excellence  is an example to all of us. 
May your memories of this kind man bring warm smiles to your heart in the days to come.

May God bring you peace and comfort in this season. 

Roy had only been at ECC for 2 years, but he made a tremendous impact on everyone with which he worked. He was knowledgable friendly, and upbeat. He was always on the move around campus, helping everyone, and always with a friendly wave and a smile. The news of Roy's passing was a shock, and I and the ECC family will miss him.

.
Last year Roy donated his collection of _RAND Review_ magazine to the library at El Camino College, to be placed in the "Free Periodicals" area that I had set up for anyone to take anything that interested them. 
.
Roy made the donation with sincere generosity but also joked that art students could feel free to take the magazines and use them for the papier-mâché that they were making.
.
One of the many joyous expressions I saw on Roy's face happened in December 2019 at ECC's campus holiday potluck/karaoke during the raffle, when he won four tickets to see "The Nutcracker," which he was happily looking forward to seeing with his family at the Marsee Auditorium at ECC.
 .

The El Camino College Federation of Teachers wishes to express its deepest condolences to Roy's family and friends. He will be missed by his El Camino College family.

I know from ECC - we would pass each other on my visits to the ITS office and when he would be fixing something in the Financial Aid office.  He was always smiling and very pleasant to be around. He enjoyed conservation.  I, too, recall seeing him enjoying his lunch in the ITS breakroom - set up very nicely. I always thought that was cool.   Our prayers and condolences to his family- wife and daughter - that he spoke of often.   

Linda Detwiler Burner & Scott Burner

My name is Claudio Vilchis

Please receive my condolences.
I have known Roy for a short time. He and I  worked together at El Camino College.  Roy was a friendly cordial and pleasure to work and be around.

He will be and is missed.



To The Summers Family-
My sincere condolences and prayers.
Roy was a kind person and pleasant co-worker.
I have memories of 'fragrant jasmine rice' as I walked thru the
breakroom.  Roy preparing lunch at the table very meticulously with placemat, plate and utensils.  

May you be blessed with peace, love and hope.
We praise, magnify and glorify the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Blessed Be The Name of the Lord.
Kim

My heart goes out to Roy's family.  Roy and I were both long time  bicycle commuters at RAND. I could always  recognize Roy zipping along with his distinctive  fast paced cadence.  After Roy left RAND to join ECC we passed each other on the south bay bike path and exchanged greetings most mornings, stopping occasionally to chat and catch up.   Roy was such a kind and decent  person.   Again, so so sorry for your loss. 

I've only known Roy for a couple years since he started at ECC. He's always polite, well spoken and always helpful with information, whether about the job or not. Always spoke with him in the break room with his carefully prepared and laid out lunch. He was just a kind decent man and he will be missed a lot. .. Bruce

To Roy's Family,

Please accept my most sincere condolences on Roy's passing. We were at RAND at the same time for a few years and became acquainted after often passing each other in the halls. Roy's wide eyed look of wonder always accompanied a quiet greeting, an interesting quip, or a funny comment. His gentle kindness is a rare quality in this world, I'm happy to have met him.

Warmest regards,
Sachi

I got to know Roy when he was at RAND because he would prepare the most civilized and creative meals in the 5th floor kitchen right next door to my office. Always engaging with a great sense of humor, he just struck me as a kind, compassionate, and caring human being.  I missed seeing him around after he left RAND. I did run into him a couple of times over the past year and I was grateful for the opportunity to catch up with him then. So sorry to hear of his passing and my sincerest condolences to Roy's family including his wife Ellen and daughter Eileen. You will be sorely missed Roy.  

I was shocked to hear the news of Roy's passing.  I started working with Roy in 1996, where we worked together in the basement of the old building.  I had the pleasure of being a part of a couple of the old Mike & Roy shows.  Old timers might remember one skit where I actually shaved Roy's head.  The clippers were not sharp enough to do the job right, so I sent him home to his wife, with a horrible hair cut!  Rest in peace friend.

I knew Roy only briefly at El Camino. He was always smiling and good natured with his interactions. I was very saddened to hear of his passing, so abruptly. I last saw him a couple of months ago and he was wearing a smile. 

Condolences for your loss.

To the family of Roy,

I am so sorry for your loss.  I know he loved his family and was so proud of his daughter.  As you can see, everyone liked Roy.  To me, he was always knowledgeable, helpful, and fun with a beautiful smile.  He was a gentle soul.  I remember seeing him riding his unicycle around town and even picking up food from Tito's Tacos.  I enjoyed watching the Mike and Roy shows.  And the fact that he would photograph his lunch every single day was so funny!   I will really miss him and feel so much richer for having known him.   God bless you all. 

So very sorry for your loss!   I am speechless and stunned to hear this sad news.   I work at El Camino College and had the pleasant opportunity to meet Roy.   Roy was such a great guy!

Lord Bless.

Sincerely,

Valerie Wagner

Roy, you left us too early!  I'm sorry we hadn't stayed in touch since our RAND days.  As some have mentioned here, I remember your unicycle riding (to work and within the building!), your juggling, your daily pictures of your lunches, your brilliance, your technical knowledge, your friendship and of course your wild & outrageous humor!  You kept work fun.  Even though my name appeared first, YOU were the Mike and Roy Show!  I know you'll make heaven fun!  Condolences to Roy's family. 
I'll miss you Roy...


I worked with Roy in the information services department.  Roy started RAND in 1993. I worked beside him the whole time till we left in 2018.
We worked on many projects, relocating from one part of RAND to another.  We started in the basement of the old building and finally moved to the computer center in the new building.  Roy was always a character.  Always trying to make me laugh.  He was great in getting projects done with very few problems.  He became the “Phone Guy” at RAND as we transitioned from analog to digital phones.
Roy would always travel to different countries with his wife, Ellen, and his daughter, Eileen.  He would bring me back the coins from the different countries.  I had a drawer full of money from all over the world.
Roy was taken too soon.  He helped me see the humor in everything I did.  So many personal projects (photographing his meals, documenting old building demolition, count down clocks to retirement, so many bicycles).  I will miss him.


I knew Roy while he was at RAND.  Roy was always kind, always thoughtful, always gentle and always engaged.  He was an exceptional technician.  He was caring, humble, and above all, humane.     

I was lucky enough to sit in the basement next to the phone office in the old building and so was in close proximity to many a shenanigan.  I feel even luckier that I witnessed Roy riding the unicycle while juggling.  He entertained us riding down the basement hallway.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  

I also got to see his juggling and magic tricks at some of the RAND celebrations as well as many hilarious skits with Mike Miyashima.  

When I was approaching retirement, Roy installed a sophisticated countdown clock in my office.  We started the countdown many months before the actual retirement date.  Sure enough the clock hit zero at 5 p.m. that date!  I was so touched that he did this for me.

I am very sad he left us so early.  He had so much to offer.  He truly made the world a better place.  I will think of him often.

All my sympathy to Roy's family.

Marilyn 

I worked with Roy at RAND from 1989 to 2004 as the Administrator of the computing staff.   He, along with Mike Miyashima, for many years were the heart of many social activities for the department.  I can still picture Roy's sweet smile and cycling around on his unicycle.  He made planning these events and putting them on so much fun for me and the 100+ staff who attended them. When I had a computer issue and Roy appeared to help, he always helped me relax and then set about solving my problem.  I  was so saddened to hear of his passing.   He was such a special person to whom God gave many gifts.  I am sure his family is sorely grieved to lose him.  May sweet memories of Roy bring them comfort.

Roy was always so nice and helpful to me over the years at RAND.  Always had a smile and kind word for me.  I am really shocked and saddened to hear of his passing.  My deepest condolences to his family.  Sending you all love and light.

Oh wow, this hits hard. 

 Roy and I met in 2011 when I started at RAND, and he was exactly the kind of guy you'd hope to meet at a think-tank. Wicked smart, hilarious and crazy talented. I never managed to witness him riding a unicycle down the halls while juggling, but heard it was legendary.

We worked closely on a number of projects, and I'll never forget that he programmed in "#4roy" into the phone system, and that rang his cell. That trick saved the day more than once!

Roy was a wonderful colleague, and a warm friend. I already miss him.

Like others who have posted their memories of Roy here, I share their shock and sadness. I knew Roy for at least a decade, beginning in 2006 when I started working at RAND Corporation. Roy was a soft-spoken, friendly guy with a goofy sense of humor. A visit to his desk usually derailed into a discussion of some odd gadget or knick-knack he'd added to his sizable collection. (He gifted me with an old-school soldering iron that I still use today. Thanks, Roy!) 

I wish Roy's family peace during these troubling times. My blessings to you all.

Roy always had a smile on his face when I'd see him at the office.  He was a kind, caring person and had a lovely disposition.  I always enjoyed seeing him biking south,on Main Street, at the end of a day.  I would always honk and wave and he would smile and ring the bell on his bike.  Godspeed, Roy .

I worked with Roy at RAND and met him from his daily, morning trips to the balcony near my 5th floor office.  One of his photographic projects was to document the demolition of our old headquarters building and the following construction of the new buildings on the site.   Roy was making his own "time-lapse" film of the changes.  Roy was always a wonderfully nice, smart, thoughtful guy... I sincerely enjoyed his company and our conversations.  So sorry to hear of his passing and my deep sympathies to his family.

My deepest sympathies go out to Roy's wife and family. We at RAND just loved Roy and all of the joy and fun he brought into our lives. He made days more happy and human just in the way he interacted with you. Thank you for sharing him with us. My heart goes out to you for this loss that seems much too soon.

Dear Ellen, Eileen and all of Roy's family.
When I first walked into RAND in 1997 Roy was one of the first people I met because our offices were in the RAND basement. Through all the years of knowing Roy one thing became clear and that was how much he loved all his family members and the family history and legacy.  I remember he and Ellen and Eileen went on many interesting trips that were planned by Ellen and he always had great stories and pictures when he came back. He always said how great Ellen was at planning all the trips. He was consistantly kind and helpful -  everyone knew Roy's smile.  He  was always curious and working on some sort of inventive project.  I am a photographer at RAND and Roy took alot of interesting photographs with a digital camera that was supposed to be for one time use - I remember he rigged it to use over and over again and the results were great! I know it  is a shocking and sad loss for all who related to him in so many different ways every day. At RAND he kept us laughing and we knew he always had our best interests at heart. The attached photo was taken of Roy when he was working on the transformation of RAND's telephone system and I ran into him while he was removing wire. He dragged it into the photo studio and allowed me to take some pictures.  Roy often shared about Eileen's accomplishments and was so very proud of her and happy for her as she grew up. He was grateful for this life.  I will always remember Roy as his care and concern for others touched me. With deepest sympathy, Diane Baldwin

OBITUARY

Roy Artilese Summers III

April 29, 1963 – May 24, 2020

Gates, Kingsley & Gates Smith Salsbury Funeral Directors

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services