Roy Croft Brand passed away on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018. He was born in Lake
Worth, Florida on December 13, 1936. He was the youngest of four children. He
is survived by his two sisters Elizabeth Respess and Carolyn Smith as well as
his son Roger Brand (Deirdre) and daughter Ashley VanDerMark (Skip) and seven
grandchildren: Peter, Jack, Grace, and George Brand and Connor, Riley and Harper
VanDerMark. He is preceded in death by his mother Odessa and older brother
Joe.
Like many from his generation, Roy worked
all his life and gave tirelessly of his time and resources to help
others. His first job was delivering milk and then he had a paper delivery
route. Even before he could drive, he parked cars for Harlan Blackburn (a
member of the Cigar Mafia). While in high school he worked for George Stuart
Office Supply, and at sixteen he became an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Boone
High School in 1954 and elected to go into the Naval Reserve where he served
honorably for eight years. He worked for Southern Bell as a lineman before
attending Florida State University where he graduated with a degree in
Accounting in 1962.
Roy was introduced to State Farm
Insurance by Bill Gunter and started his own agency, which was his main
occupation for 47 years. He was a pilot and one of the founders of the Orlando
Aero Club at Herndon Airport. When he was 33, he dabbled in politics, by
running for Orange County Commissioner. He was an active member and past
President of the West Orlando Rotary Club where he was extremely involved.
While in Rotary he built literally hundreds of wheelchair ramps for people in
need. Rotary International honored him with the Paul Harris Fellow Award for
his service. From the early 1980’s he maintained a contractor license helping
many people build and renovate their homes as well as businesses. Roy’s passion
was always in helping others so it should be no surprise that he was also a
lifelong blood donor to the Central Florida Blood Bank, donating over 50
gallons.
He seemed to be most fond of his
service as a Florida Highway Patrol Auxiliary State Trooper. Roy not only gave
of his time and resources he also was a philanthropist and patron of the arts,
donating countless dollars and hours to the Winter Park Playhouse, Orlando
Opera, Orlando Ballet, Orlando Philharmonic and the Orlando Museum of Art.
Roy’s entire life demonstrated his love for people. He
truly had a servant’s heart. He will be greatly missed by those who loved him.
A memorial service will be held at
First Baptist Church Orlando, 3000 South John Young Parkway, in The Henry
Chapel, Saturday, November 10th at 11:30 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may
be sent to Cannonball Kids’ cancer Foundation,