Bill Roys, 87, of Strawberry Point, died peacefully on Tuesday morning, Sept. 2, 2026, at his home with his wife by his side.
William Joseph Roys was born Nov. 27, 1938, in the family’s brick house, rural Volga, the son of J. Walter and Doris Alberta (Probert) Roys. He graduated from Volga High School in the class of 1957. For the next three years, he alternated attending Iowa State University during the fall and winter quarters and returning to work on the family farm in the spring. On Aug. 27, 1960, he married his classmate and neighbor Andrea Marie “Andi” Zwanzinger at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Volga. The couple moved to Colorado in the summer of 1961 with the encouragement of his older brother Lyle in Fort Collins, where there was a building boom. A year later, they moved to the Denver area and found a home on the banks of the South Platte River. This home flooded in 1965. They bought a home in Englewood, Colo., where Bill started his own business called Roys Remodeling Ltd. After 13 years of city life and smog, they decided in 1973 to move back to Iowa, living at his family home and later buying a small farm west of Wadena with timber, a pond and some farmland. They spent the next 45 years remodeling the abandoned farmhouse.
Bill resumed his remodeling business, eventually purchasing a building in West Union. After Sept. 11, 2001, he sold the building but continued remodeling. Bill continued to emphasize honesty, fairness, integrity and quality. He loved helping people. Bill was on the Fayette County Board of Review for many years, as well as an elder in several churches, including the Presbyterian Church of Englewood and the Illyria Church in rural Elgin. He was a member of the Community Bible Church in Strawberry Point and was a member of the Gideons for many years.
Bill is survived by his wife of 66 years, Andi Roys of Strawberry Point; three sons and their children, Steven (Carolyn) Roys of South Elgin, Ill., and Kori and Tara, Scott (Michelle) Roys of New Bern, N.C., and Katy (Chris) Cirillo and Bram, and Kirk (Shelly) Roys of Le Claire, and Ben (Katelynne) and Nick; one great-granddaughter, Leonie Roys; three sisters, Jean Bloyer of Windfield, Kansas, Barbara (Gary) Jellings of Volga and Ruth Ann Hamrin of Linn Oak, Mo.; and 37 nieces and nephews.
Bill was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Kenneth, Lyle and John and their spouses; and his youngest sister, Janette.
Funeral service was Sept. 7, at Community Bible Church, Strawberry Point, with Bruce Klett officiating.
Visitation was on Sept. 6, at the Jamison-Schmitz Funeral Home, Arlington.
Interment will be at Hillcrest Cemetery, Volga.
Memorial Fund: Community Bible Church Building Fund.
Online obituary at www.jamisonschmitzfuneralhome.com.
