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Roy’s father worked forty years as the greenskeeper for the San Marcos Resort golf course, and he was a farm hand for Wilford Phelps, a local rancher who harvested alfalfa and cotton crops. The alfalfa was used as a rotation crop to build up minerals in the soil after the cotton plants were mature and harvested.
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As a boy, Roy attended St. Mary’s Catholic School and Chandler High School. He played baseball for one of Father Joseph Patterson’s teams in Chandler. His cousin, Eduardo “Ed” Delci and many relatives from the area were a close-knit family. They knew their neighbors well and spent a lot of time with St. Mary’s Church organizations started by Father Patterson. Roy’s cousin, Ed, remembers stories of Father Patterson coming to Chandler in 1915, and dedicating his life to support the Hispanic families and area youth when social services were not available. In one particular story, Father Patterson had purchased lots in the downtown district near Colorado Street and Chandler Boulevard and resold them to Hispanic widows of World War II soldiers who were unable to purchase property.
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Biography Submitted by Diane L. Brown
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Return to City of Chandler Hispanic Heritage Month Photo Exhibit