Harold LeRoy Emmons, Jr., passed away on July 19, 2026 in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the age of 80. He is mourned by his daughter Camrin D. Emmons and her partner Kevin Russo, Roy’s sisters Jackylene Kay Emmons Hood and Patricia Ann Emmons Kauffman, brother-in-law Clark Radcliffe, nieces Margaret Keeton and Andrea Michael, nephews Alex and Aric Emmons, friends Pam and Steve Williams, Jennifer Smith, Burdette Burke, and many others.

While his legal first name was Harold, his friends and family knew him as Roy. He lost his beloved wife of nearly 40 years, Marsha Radcliffe Emmons, in 2022, his mother Dorthey Pearl Templar Emmons in 2022, his younger brother George Howard Emmons in 2006, and his father Harold LeRoy Emmons. Sr., in 1989. The Emmons family lived in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, during the fifties and sixties.

Roy was briefly married to Alice Marie Staggs and they produced one daughter, Camrin D. Emmons.

When Roy was about 12 years of age, his best friend Larry Porras developed a brain tumor. The Emmons family was living at the edge of town at the end of a long driveway. Shortly before his death Larry attended Roy’s birthday party at that property in a wheelchair.

The family home on that large property had three bedrooms so Roy and George would have shared a room. Instead, Roy claimed a small building known as the ‘bunk house’. His sisters would visit him there mostly to enjoy Roy’s large collection of superhero comic books.

During his youth Roy participated in a chess club and the Wildcat Archery Club. Father and son owned elaborate double curve fiberglass bows with sights. They also had both fiberglass and aluminum arrows and fletched those arrows themselves. The archery range was in the sandhills with no carts possible. Interclub tournaments were frequent so Roy and his dad developed a friendship with Dick Palmer and his son Mickey Palmer who lived in Sterling, Colorado.

Roy’s first vehicle was a 1951 Chevy that had sat undriven outdoors for several years. It had low mileage but also hail damage. It was a boring color so Roy had the damage repaired and the car painted dark iridescent blue. With white seat covers, it was a joy to drive and show to others. Roy’s other vehicle was a brand-new Yamaha motorcycle, the envy of his friends.

Roy served in the U.S. Army in the late 1960s including a tour in Viet Nam. His souvenir from Viet Nam was a crossbow. He was involved in logistics in the army, perhaps a precursor to his later long career in the huge warehouse for the Nebraska Book Company. That company served schools nationwide from its founding in 1915 to its demise in 2023. Roy retired in 2014.

While Roy held many jobs throughout his life including ranch hand, construction, security, and public school janitor and warehouse employee, he was more motivated by his hobbies. He was fascinated by computers and enjoyed programming and taught himself a couple of computer program languages.

He enjoyed making and launching model rockets. At one Independence Day gathering in Colorado, Roy did his best to convince a busybody that rockets are not fireworks. After his friends’ children were too old to chase down the rockets, he enjoyed making Lego projects including programming the primitive Lego computer.

Through much of his adult life Roy and his friends met on Friday evenings to play computer golf and chat about life. Toward the end of his life he enjoyed making things with his 3-D printer. He enjoyed learning new things and was an avid consumer of documentaries.

Roy is missed by all who knew and loved him.

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