Roy (Jay) Leggitt:
CLASS OF 1951
Ceres High SchoolClass of 1951
Ceres, CA
Georgia Institute of TechnologyClass of 1969
Atlanta, GA
Alaska Methodist UniversityClass of 1965
Anchorage, AK
Roy (Jay)'s Story
Early Life:
Roy was born during the Great Depression just at the beginning of the Oklahoma dust bowl His parents were not married. His grandmother, who didn't like the name Roy, his father's name, called him Jay.
In January 1934 his mother and he moved in with the Samuel Purdy family in Carter, Oklahoma. Clara worked as their housekeeper and finished high school there in 1936. By 1937 the Purdy family could no longer support themselves in Oklahoma because of the severity of the dust bowl. In September 1937 they migrated to southern California.
Roy went to first through third grade as Samuel James (Jay) Purdy. After his mother's marriage in 1941 to Leonard Smith, without adoption, his name was changed to Jay Clark Smith. He went to 17 grammar schools and four high schools, graduating from Modesto High School, CA, in 1951. Roy worked as a janitor, shoe salesman, operating engineer, and carpenter until joining the United States Air Force in November, 1952. During that period he and his family lived in Nevada, central, and southern California.
Military Life:
Roy joined the United States Air Force 26 November 1952. He served as an enlisted ground radio operator and attained the rank of staff sergeant. Just prior to his marriage in 1955 Roy changed his name from Jay Clark Smith back to his legal birth name, Roy Clarke Leggitt.
Upon completion of officer candidate school he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1959. He served as a communications officer and later as a communications-electronics staff officer.
Roy attended night college courses until he was able to complete his two final semesters at the Alaska Methodist University. He was awarded a Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences (Magna Cum Laude) in 1965. In 1969 Roy completed his Masters of Science in Information Sciences degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
During his tour with the USAF, Roy was stationed in California, Mississippi, Japan, Iwo Jima, Iowa, New Mexico, Azores, Texas, Mississippi, Shemya Island, Alaska, Mississippi, Iowa, Georgia, Belgium, and Oklahoma. Roy retired from USAF as a major on 31 August 1974.
Post Military Life:
Two days after retiring from the USAF Roy began working with NCR Corporation in San Diego as a software quality analyst and later as a programmer analyst. He worked primarily in telecommunications programming.
In 1976 ...Expand for more
he became bored with his job and obtained his real estate sales license. He worked mostly in the Poway, California area. While working there he met his future wife-to-be, Darlene.
In 1978 he went back to NCR as a senior software quality analyst and later as a consulting analyst.
After their children were grown, Roy and his wife of nearly 28 years grew apart and divorced in 1983.
In 1984 Roy changed over from the commercial side to the defense industry side of software quality engineering with the Cubic Defense Corporation in San Diego. He worked as a software quality engineer and later as a software quality engineering technical specialist. Again, his specialty was in telecommunications programming.
In 1987 Roy married his present wife Darlene.
His aim for several years was to retire when he reached 59 1/2 years of age. On schedule, Roy retired in October 1992.
Retirement Years:
Roy now pursues genealogy as his principle pastime. After his wife Darlene retired a day after her fifty-fith birthday in 1996 they spent a considerable amount of time each year touring America in their recreational vehicle from their home base in San Diego. In January 1997, after they decided they enjoyed RVing so much, they sold their house in San Diego, bought a new diesel powered 37' Holiday Rambler Endeavor LE, and became full time RVers. Darlene drives and Roy navigates. Using his laptop computer and a two-way DirecWay satellite Internet connection, Roy still pursues his online genealogical quest.
They spend their winters on the Colorado River near Parker, Arizona. Starting in early spring and continuing through late fall they travel to a selected area of the United States. They try to visit family and friends in central Nevada and southern California twice a year. By the end of 1997 they had traveled to each of the contiguous 48 states and in early 1998 ventured down into Mexico.
They still have the traveling bug. In June 2002 they upgraded their home-on-wheels to a new, custom built 2002 41' Monaco Windsor diesel pusher with three slide out compartments. Darlene still does all the driving.
In January 2008, after eleven years on the road, Roy and Darlene purchased a nice RV lot in a co-op RV park about four miles south of Florence, Arizona. They plan on spending from mid-October to mid-April there traveling to cooler places during the summer.
Register for Free to view all details!
Yearbooks
Reunions
Photos
Register for Free to view all photos!