Royce Clifton Maloney (September 19, 1921 - September 30, 1986)
There is an 8x10 photograph that I have recently hung in the stairway of my home. It is an old photograph that contains all of my dad's siblings, their spouses, their children, and his parents standing on the porch of my grandparents' tattered old home. Thirty-two descendants of M.J. Moats and Rosie Mae Anderson stood that day, marking that moment. Of course, more grandchildren were born after that portrait, growing their legacy. But when I walk by that photograph stained from time, I can't help but have nostalgia and sadness over the ones that are now gone from our lives. Fifteen made their subtle mark on the world before God called them home to the heavens. And soon, there will be one more since one of my cousins is in his final stage of lung cancer. His moments are limited to mere days, if not hours. Sadly, though, he will not leave this world with the same carefree spirit that babies come into the world despite their welcoming cry. Instead, he will leave it with the bitterness, resentment, and hatred that has been created and cultivated by the very one who helped give him life and the one he honored with sharing his name. He craved the one thing in life that he always had - love. Unfortunately, he lacked the maturity, wisdom, and openness to receive it because those who pretended to award him with the gift of love purposefully placed blinders so that he could not see. Regardless, though, his path was chosen for him by God, as all of our lives are as God wills them to be. In the end, he will be another name added to the list of 1.8 million people who pass away yearly from lung cancer. Just as my distant cousin, Sybil Jerene Johns' husband, Royce Clifton Maloney, was in 1986 when lung cancer took his final breath away. But his story ends with grace and faith, as documented by his daughter-in-law, Susie Joyce Maloney. The wife of his son, Elmer Terry Maloney. Thanks to Susie and the cataloging of her father-in-law's life, we now have his journey and his story of hope.
Royce Clifton Maloney was born on September 19, 1921, in Round Bottom, Cherokee County, Alabama [1-11]. He was the youngest of the seven known children born to farmers John Freeman Maloney and Martha Lou McCurdy [8-19]. Awaiting his arrival were siblings John Wesley (August 12, 1900), Julia Belle (March 12, 1908), Robert Franklin (May (April) 1, 1990), Woodrow Wilson (August 8, 1912), Luther Freeman (May 5, 1914), and Harold Glenn Maloney (September 21, 1917) [20-25]. Sadly though, Royce will never have the opportunity to know his father. Because, on April 6, 1923, his father, John, suddenly died when Royce was only nineteen months old, leaving his mother to support her children all alone [25]. Adding to the family's tragedy, Royce's brothers would lavishly spend their inheritance, causing them to lose their family farm [26].
After losing what was once their home, Royce's mom, Martha, relocated her family to Cave Springs, Georgia, where she supported them as a laborer [26]. But on January 20, 1937, the family faced more loss when pneumonia forced Martha's last breath [26-29]. At the tender age of fifteen, Royce had become an orphan. As an adolescent without parents, Royce had no alternative but to move in with one of his older siblings. But, fortunately, his sister, Julia Belle, decided to take on that responsibility. And despite having three children of their own, she and her husband William Junior Crider were willing to face such a challenge [22, 26, 30]. For Royce, it meant relocating again to Shannon, Georgia, and starting anew [26]. A few years later, though, Royce's luck changed for the better when this move placed him in the vicinity of meeting the love of his life, Sybil Jerene Johns, who was living in a neighboring community, Rome, Georgia [26]. Born on July 6, 1924, she is the daughter of James Elmer Johns and Annis Katherine Davis [31-33].
After marrying on December 2, 1939, the newly wedded couple began their new life in a one-room apartment in Rush Chapel, Georgia, a small town between Shannon and Rome, Georgia [4-5, 26]. As an eighteen-year-old with only a sixth-grade education and a fifteen-year-old with only two years of high school, the newlyweds' future looked bleak financially [34-37]. To support his new family, Royce began working as a dubber while Sybil stayed home [34-37]. Their combined annual income equated to $650, hardly enough to support them [34-37].
After residing in Rush Chapel for two years, the young couple wanted to improve their earning potential and found no way to elevate themselves in their current situation, so they decided to relocate to Atlanta [26]. Soon after relocating, Royce secured employment with William Jenkins in Whietter Mills, affording them a slightly bigger apartment on 112 Middle Street in Chattahoochee, Georgia [4-5]. More changes quickly came to the couple after relocating when they welcomed their first son, Merial Clifton, born November 24, 1941, into their world [38-43].
After living near Atlanta, Georgia for almost five years, Royce and Sybil returned to their roots in Rome, Georgia [26]. Soon after their arrival, on February 16, 1946, Royce and Sybil welcomed their second son home after giving birth at Harbin Hospital [26]. Royce found employment with Lindale Mills and then, purchased five acres from his father-in-law, James or Papa John, as they referred to him [26]. Craving the American dream for himself, Sybil, and his sons, Royce built his family a five-room home on the acreage that seeded his aspirations.
In 1952, Royce and Sybil upheaval their lives again and relocated their small family to Spartanburg, South Carolina [26]. Royce changed careers again, finding employment with Beaumont Mills [26]. However, instead of just working and supporting his family, Royce and Sybil decided to make a broader impact on their community. In doing so, they erected a tent and started a church underneath it [26]. In their tiny living room, Royce and Sybil conducted Sunday school classes and worshiped their God with much love and devotion [26]. Eventually, their congregation grew until they had no other alternative but to rent available space in a store to help house all of its members [26]. Before long, their reaching impact had established the North Spartanburg Church of God which still exists today, thanks to charter members Royce and Sybil, who dreamt of its beginnings [26].
After living in Spartanburg for just a couple of years, Sybil and Royce uprooted themselves again and relocated to Calhoun, Georgia, residing on College Street [26]. Royce found employment in another factory, the Echota Cotton Mill, repairing cotton looms [26]. However, their stay in Calhoun was short-lived when they moved to Dalton just a couple of years later, in approximately 1955 [26]. But this time, Royce delves into a completely different career and finds employment selling life insurance with Liberty National Life [26]. Initially, Royce and Sybil rented an apartment Old Conway Street in Mill Village until being able to purchase a house and two acres on Mitchell Bridge Road [26]. However, their welfare became threatened when Royce lost his job with Liberty National Life [26].
After going without employment for some time, Royce, undeterred, decided to invest in a local business, John Blackburn's Service Station [26]. Excited about its financial prospects, he purchased half interest in the station and began another chapter in his roller-coaster life. Finding the business profitable, he offered to buy the second half of the service station, becoming its sole owner [26]. With the business thriving, Royce then relocated the station to Glenwood Avenue and renamed the business Maloney's 76 Service Station [26].
In approximately 1970, Royce relocated the family and business again to Lindale, Georgia [26]. Despite the limitations of a sixth-grade education, Royce had achieved his American dream. He owned and ran the business he rightfully and aptly named after himself for nearly fifteen years [26, 44]. But besides the dream of a successful business, Royce and Sybil discovered that dreams could be delivered in an unexpected, small package when Royce befriended a lost little boy, John Peter Tallent. Beginning with shared hamburgers and basic provisions, John and Sybil eventually become his foster parents, embracing him with their love [26].
There is one word in the English dictionary capable of frightening even the bravest. That word is cancer. And unfortunately, in 1980, Royce became confronted with it and the diagnosis of lung cancer [26]. Within a year, it had metastasized, reaching Royce's brittle bones [26]. In 1984, resigned to his condition, Royce drafted his will, leaving to his beloved Sybil, the service station, and the house he had worked so hard to achieve [26]. Royce fought gallantly for two more years, before succumbing to the fight he could not win on September 30, 1986, in Rome, Georgia [1-3, 6-7, 26, 44]. Royce remained faithful to God until the end. Daily, he had avowed in his confessions, the following:
"I am healed in the name of Jesus!
My bone marrow is making good blood.
My bone marrow is making all the good blood I need.
My bones are strong and getting stronger every day.
My body is strong and new.
Healing and strength are coming into my body each day-abundant health and strength.
I am healed by Christ's stripes. "
Royce's internment is in East Valley Cemetery in Rome, Floyd County, Georgia [6-7].
After Royce's death, Sybil managed to move on with her life without Royce. On February 12, 1989, she married James Franklin Tilson [54]. Born on April 17, 1922, in Calhoun, Fulton County, Georgia, Frank was the son of Joseph Harrison Tilson and Stella Mae Tudor [45-53]. Unfortunately, Sybil will say a final goodbye to another husband on April 15, 2007, when Frank also passes away, leaving Sybil a widow once again [45-53]. And then, four years later, Sybil will face the most difficult task of burying her oldest son, Clifton Merial, on July 13, 2011 [54]. His internment is also in East View Cemetery in Rome, Floyd County, Georgia [55]. On, February 2, 2022, after nearly twenty years of being a widow, Sybil died at ninety-seven.
My cousin may be among the 1.8 million who will pass away this year from lung cancer. But to those who love him, there is only one death that matters -- his. His half-sister is not biologically related to me but has come to hold a special place in my heart, and I consider her a member of my family. So for her, I weep for what should have been. For him, I am sorrowful over the moments that he allowed himself to miss with her because of bitterness, and sibling rivalry. It saddens me that he will never know peace and the comfort God's words can offer. Royce's daily prayer included 1 Peter 2.4, "To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious." A verse that states it best!
Dedicated to Susie Joyce Maloney, who took the time to document her father-in-law's story and who is a piece of my mother's family. Also, I dedicate this to my mother, Sara Nell Davis Moats, who is now fighting this fight with lung cancer as a result of breast cancer metastasizing!
References:
- Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.
- Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
- The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Georgia, 10/16/1940-03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147
- Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71736053/royce-clifton-maloney
- “Mrs. Martha Maloney,” 1937, March 26, The Atlantic Constitution, Atlantic, Georgia, Page 19
- The Atlanta Constitution; Publication Date: 26 Jan 1937; Publication Place: Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America; URL: https://www.newspapers.com/image/384710836/?article=ff240ca8-351c-4523-af3d-162fe8f86194&focus=0.85193324,0.6507402,0.9751244,0.76186234&xid=3355
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2019.
- Year: 1920; Census Place: Cedar Bluff, Cherokee, Alabama; Roll: T625_6; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 31
- Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
- Original data: Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives, Washington, D.C. For details on the contents of the film numbers, visit the following NARA web page: NARA. Note: Enumeration Districts 819-839 are on roll 323 (Chicago City).
- Census 1920: Resided in Cedar Bluff, Cherokee County, Alabama, USA: Freeman J. 45, Lena 37, John 19, July 15, Woodrow 8, Luther 5, Harold 2
- Year: 1930; Census Place: Mud Creek, Cherokee, Alabama; Page: 12A; Enumeration District: 0001; FHL microfilm: 233974
- Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2002.
- Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.
- Census 1930: Resided in Mud Creek, Cherokee County, Alabama, USA: Martha 48, Robert 20, Woodrow 17, Luther 15, Harold 13, Roy 8
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129930973/harold-glenn-maloney
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/71736054/woodrow-wilson-maloney
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150182491/julia-belle-crider
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- Notes written by Susie Joyce Maloney and shared on Ancestry.com. Susie is the wife of Elmer Terry Maloney and the daughter-in-law of Sybil Jerene Johns who she interviewed in November 2017 to document their family history.
- Georgia Department of Health and Vital Statistics; Atlanta, Georgia
- Ancestry.com. Georgia, U.S., Deaths Index, 1914-1940 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
- "Georgia Deaths, 1914–1927." Index. FamilySearch, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2007. "Georgia Deaths, 1914–1927" and "Georgia Deaths, 1930," images, FamilySearch. Georgia Department of Health and Vital Statistics, Atlanta, Georgia.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/150182510/william-j-crider
- https://www.mylife.com/sybil-tilson/e823291282068
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- “Obituary-J.T. Johns,” 1997, January 9, Rome News-Tribune, Rome, Georgia.
- Year: 1940; Census Place: Shannon, Floyd, Georgia; Roll: m-t0627-00671; Page: 11A; Enumeration District: 57-5
- Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
- Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1940. T627, 4,643 rolls
- Resided in Shannon, Floyd County, Georgia, USA: Royce C. Maloney 18, Sybil J. Maloney 15.
- Social Security Administration; Washington D.C., USA; Social Security Death Index, Master File
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2014.
- Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
- Ancestry.com. Web: Floyd County, Georgia, U.S., Eastview and Oakland Cemetery Index, 1837-2012 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013
- Original data: Eastview and Oakland Cemetery. City of Rome. http://www.cemeteryregister.com/search.asp?id=GA_Rome: accessed 1 October 2012.
- https://www.hendersonandsons.com/obituary/5284457
- “Mr. Maloney,” 1986, October 1, Rome News-Tribune, Rome, Georgia.
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015
- Original data: Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007.
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/200804257/james-frank-tilson
- Ancestry.com. U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
- Original data: Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
- The National Archives at Fort Worth, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; WWII Draft Registration Cards for Georgia, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147
- Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
- National Archives at College Park; College Park, Maryland, USA; Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, 1938-1946; NAID: 1263923; Record Group Title: Records of the National Archives and Records Administration, 1789-ca. 2007; Record Group: 64; Box Number: 01622; Reel: 19
- Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005.
- https://www.hendersonandsons.com/obituary/5284457
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/93062602/merial-clifton-maloney
- https://www.mylife.com/sybil-tilson/e823291282068
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