By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
When Roy Pullam, of Henderson, passed on September 15, Kentucky lost another one of its brightest spirits and most compassionate souls. Roy exemplified what it means to be an overcomer, one who not only manages to survive difficult circumstances, but also thrives magnificently in the aftermath.
Roy was born some 79 years ago, one of six children in the Webster County community of Providence. His father was disabled, and his mother was forced to work many low-paying jobs for support. Life was hard, and Roy became imprinted with the nagging hurt of having little food during much of his childhood. Encouraged by his mother’s religious faith, he found hope, and he shared this example with me as I interviewed him in 2008 for my Kentucky’s Everyday Heroes book series.
“I prayed for something to eat. We were hungry,” he said, “and the next day this truck pulled up in front of our house and brought us a basket of food.”
The truck bringing food was a part of the local Providence Missionary Society’s outreach, and along with his mother’s kind and sacrificial manner, the two influences provided a model of service for what became his unwavering personal desire to help the vulnerable among us.
And though his parents possessed scant education, they fully supported Roy getting the most out of his academic experience and wanted him to someday receive a college education. But even the early school challenges were extreme. He wore clothes given to him by his church and was considered, he said, “the poorest kid in the school.” He often was ignored and considered an outcast.
“I often felt shame about the experience,” he told me. “Other kids thought of me as odd . . . and I WAS odd.”
Despite those traumatic times while growing up, there were personal “angels” who cared about him, such as Vivian Crowe, an aging high school teacher who came to Roy’s rescue one day when another teacher humiliated him. He described the scene like this.
“Mrs. Crowe came down that hallway to that teacher and told him: ‘Don’t mess with Roy Pullam. He’s mine!’ And I WAS hers. She gave me books and made me recite poetry. She taught me what caring was all about. She gave me dreams.”
And with the help of an individual named David Middleton, Roy received a college scholarship to attend Henderson Community College where, he recalled, he typically had to hitchhike to get to campus. He was now on his way to greater things, and, after transferring, he graduated from Murray State University with a teaching degree.
He would then spend his career pouring his heart out to students in a career that started first in Henderson’s city, then county, school systems. For that, he was rewarded with kind appreciation from likely thousands—with many demonstrating personal gestures of thanks to him. I know that because I stayed in touch with Roy over the years . . . and saw the incoming gestures of gratitude.
Let’s look at Roy’s influence as a teacher.
At North Middle School, he presided over what became the largest Junior Optimist Club in the world. Why so much interest? I have to believe it was because of Roy’s authenticity drawing them. The group collected thousands of cans of food for the needy, bought phone cards and sent thousands of books to U.S. soldiers, raised money for eyeglasses delivered through medical missionaries, and supported Special Olympic events. They visited seniors in rest homes and worked on Habitat for Humanity projects.
The Junior Optimists also raised, over many years, over $102,000 for a special needs school in Henderson, and his students regularly visited children in the local hospital at Christmastime.
Possessing a strong love for his state’s people, he worked with Jim Long and Roy’s students to produce the Bonnet Films, a 600-part collection of oral history. On trips around Kentucky, Roy and his wife, Velma, guided young people in arranging and doing interviews with many of Kentucky’s most amazing luminaries. Included in the collection are interviews with A.B. “Happy” Chandler, Janice Holt Giles, Tom T. Hall, and surgeon William Devries. The treasure is archived in the Martin Luther King Jr. Library at the University of Kentucky and the Henderson County Public Library. The interviews amount to thousands of hours of tape and multi-thousands of hours in acquiring them.
And after Roy retired from full-time teaching, he continued giving to his community. Along with Steven Hayden, he helped start the Henderson Drug Court. He worked with a physician to design a program for screening for sickle cell anemia, and he worked with Dale Osterman to start a class to teach third graders to swim.
And there is more.
He started a bicycle-repair program using local jail inmates to do the work. He was on Henderson Senior Center Board. He worked hard in supporting the local Red Cross. He was known to often send letters to the Henderson Gleaner suggesting ways to solve people-oriented problems.
Roy was not a strong social media user, but for years, he sent out a daily email blast to friends. I received them, sent usually in the morning because he had trouble sleeping. He mused about a lot of things, but most days, he talked about those who are vulnerable and how they might be supported and encouraged. Always, I could sense how he grew up hungry and didn’t want the same for anyone else. He inspired me then, and still does.
Another subject he regularly proclaimed was appreciation for his beloved wife of over fifty years, Velma. Especially in his final months while suffering as was dying from pancreatic cancer, she was his ever-supportive caregiver. She is also a hero, and much of the reason Roy made such a great impact.
Knowing what tough times awaited Roy and final stage pancreatic cancer after seeing my brother pass from the same, I drove to Henderson several months before his death to visit him while he was still lucid. I was blessed with sharing a couple hours with one of the biggest hearts I’ve ever met. I’m so glad to have been blessed with that time together and have it tape recorded for future reference.
Roy provides the essence of what I hope to portray in the Kentucky by Heart columns — its people in the most noble form.
This was a very heartfelt story. Full of love, faith and inspiration. Enjoyed it greatly. Thank you, Steve. You are an outstanding Man and definitely a credit to the tribune.