Roy was born May 19, 1922, in Luray, KS, the only son of Roy O. and Ida Mae (Case) Kornmeyer. Roy spent his younger years in and around Salina, KS. When Roy was in the third grade, he got his first violin and seemed to have an affinity for any stringed instrument after that. He went on to play fiddle on the radio with the Smoky Hills Boys. Roy Graduated Salina High School in 1940.
He married Esther Bender on December 3, 1941, in Waldo, KS, and learned of Pearl Harbor on their honeymoon/move to California, where he went to work in the growing aircraft industry. Roy enlisted in the US Army Air Corps in 1942, serving as a flight engineer and instructor on B-29 bombers. He was released from active duty as a 1st Lieutenant in January 1946, then was recalled to active duty September 1954 to March 1955, retiring as a captain. Roy lived and worked in Yuba City from 1950-1954. The family spent one year at Fort Benning, GA, after he was recalled to active duty. The family returned to Yuba City, where he worked as a police Sergeant, deputy sheriff, and private investigator prior to their relocation to the Placerville, CA, area where he worked for Aerojet General Corporation and US Forest Service at Lake Tahoe.
From there, Roy began working as a hydraulics engineer installing missile silos in the mid-west and working on the Saturn and Atlas rocket projects in Huntsville, AL. He returned to California, holding a variety of jobs until moving to Kingman, AZ. There, he worked as a plant engineer for General Cable Corp. Later, Roy became an instructor in silversmithing, gold-casting, and all other aspects of jewelry-making for Mohave Community College. It was in Kingman that he again took up his love of flying with his sons and grandson joining him. Roy flew his various small planes all over the southwest. In addition to flying, he was an avid black powder enthusiast, participating in a number of rendezvous garbed in buckskin leather clothing that he handcrafted himself. Over the years, his other interests included hunting, horse-back riding, fishing, gun-smithing, snow-skiing, gold mining, motorcycles, archery, and always mechanics. At the age of 66, he embarked on a three-month journey with 5 other buck skinners from the Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories to the Arctic Circle, paddling almost 1,300 miles in a Voyager Canoe. Roy developed many friendships over his lifetime, friends from all walks of life, from the well-educated to the interesting and quirky. Roy was well-known for his generosity and willingness to help his neighbors. Throughout all of his life, Roy had a love for music and up until his last month of life was playing the guitar and singing with his wife, Esther, in weekly jam sessions.
Roy Otis Kornmeyer, Jr., 97, of Sturgis, died Saturday, September 7, 2019, at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Fort Meade, SD.
Roy leaves behind his wife of 77 years, Esther (also known as Fritz); his son, Roy (Ada) Kornmeyer of Port Ludlow, WA; his son, Dave (Charlene) Kornmeyer of Black Hawk, SD; and his daughter, Elizabeth Kinsey of Phoenix. In addition, he leaves the following grandchildren: Kymberly, Hillary, Tony, Scott, and Laurel; and seven great-grandchildren. Roy's music, sense of humor and wit will be missed by family and friends alike.
Committal services will be at 10:30 a.m. September 12, 2019, at Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis with Pastor Bob Hower officiating.

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