ROY E. JOYNER, M.D.

1922-2018

Dr. Roy Elton Joyner died the evening of Wednesday, January 24, 2018 in the arms of his cherished and devoted wife, Naomi Ruth Bostick Joyner, at their home of over 43 years on North Post Oak Lane in Houston Texas. He is predeceased by his parents Van Buren Joyner and Lila Alice “Adele” Phlieger; brother Glenn Parham Joyner; sister Laverne Joyner Jameson Lintz; and young granddaughter Bridgett Shonet Swann.

Dr. Joyner is survived by his wife Naomi Joyner; brother and friend Van Buren Joyner II; loved children and step-children: David Joyner, Kathie Joyner-McGuire, Shayne Luke, Julia Rubey, and Joseph Joyner, who live in Colorado; Gregory Joyner of Thailand, and Elizabeth Cox in Texas, and their families; and Kimberli Swann of Florida, James Swann, Kenneth Swann and Mark Swann of Texas, and their families. Roy and Naomi were blessed with the gift of many precious grandchildren and great grandchildren, and much-loved nieces and nephews who will miss his sound advice. Roy will be missed by family and friends in Texas and Georgia, numerous cousins-by-marriage and friends in East Texas, Washington, California, Maine and Idaho.

Dr. Joyner was born in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia November 24, 1922. He spent his childhood in College Park, Georgia, and attended North Georgia College. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served in the 9th Air Force Bomber Command in the European Theater. As a B-26 Marauder crew member on “The Carolyn,” he flew 31 combat missions over Europe. His flight crew motto was “DAMIFINO,” which, in later years, he applied as a philosophical principal to many of life’s difficult questions. His military decorations included the Air Medal.

Upon return from WWII, he completed his pre-medical education at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and obtained his M.D. degree in 1950 at the Medical College of Georgia. He interned at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital in Galveston, and retired in The USPHS Reserve in 1967 with the rank of Surgeon.

Dr. Joyner was Board Certified in Occupational Medicine and spent his entire career in that field. He was Medical Director, Gulf Coast Area, for Union Carbide Corporation in Texas City, Texas, where he lived with his family before moving to the NASA area in 1970, then to Houston, with a second bayhome in Shoreacres/LaPorte.

Dr. Joyner joined Shell Oil Co. in Houston as the company’s first U.S. Corporate Medical Director in 1972, a position he held until he retired from Shell in 1988. Among his many health education accomplishments, he established one of the first corporate smoking cessation campaigns, which he led by example. He was a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine, the American Academy of Occupational Medicine; served on the Board of Directors of the American Occupational Medical Association and as President of the Texas Occupational Medical Association. He was active in the Medicine and Biological Sciences Dept. of the American Petroleum Institute and served as Chairman.

Dr. Joyner was a member of the American Medical Association, Texas Medical Association, and Harris County Medical Society, and an affiliate of the Royal College of Physicians, London. He wrote and published numerous scientific reports in medical journals, and was an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health. He was President of the POLTOA-II Homeowners association. He was a good neighbor. He was a Founding Member of the Friends of Archaeology at the University of St. Thomas, and supported many educational programs in the cultural arts and local learning centers.

Dr. Joyner was a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church. He felt humbled and honored to play a small part in the expansion of the Church mission and the construction of the new Church. He was proud to be an American Citizen, a native Son of Georgia, and a Transplanted Texan. He advanced charitable institutes and societies that shared his concerns and that provided care and/or honored U.S. soldiers and veterans and their families. Most recently the DAR Camp Logan Chapter’s Historic Preservation project to plant a WWI Camp Logan Memorial Tree Grove in Memorial Park. Donations in memory of Dr. Joyner’s life may be made to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church Outreach which assists military families and veterans in need, or the WWI Camp Logan Memorial Tree Grove. Information: (356)226-5845.

A Memorial Service for Dr. Roy E. Joyner, MD will be held Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 2 PM at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, 717 Sage Road. The Rev. Jonathan V. Adams and The Rev. Sarah H. Condon officiating. Interment Friday, March 2, 2018 at 2 PM, at the U.S. National Cemetery. Houston Texas.