Roy Fay was his name. Most towns have a Roy Fay but very few towns take care of him the way Altus did. From as far as I can remember Roy Fay was a permanent fixture in Altus.
Roy Fay had always been homeless as far as I knew. He lived on the streets of Altus and pilfered food out of the stores garbage. Once he got hold of some spoiled bologna and cheese that Seamans Store had thrown out. Someone found him on the street near death from food poisoning. The Dr of the little town took him in his hospital and pumped his stomach out saving his life. Doc Pillstrom was a man who would say anything that popped in his head. After Roy Fay recovered Doc told him he had "cheese fever and bologna fits". That stuck with Roy Fay and from then on if he heard anyone was sick he would declare they had "cheese fever & bologna fits". Everyone had that malady if Roy Fay knew they were sick.
Roy Fay could spell one thing SPE- Double E. I don't know where he got that, someone probably had said that to him and it stuck. Every word that had been invented was spelled, SPE-Double E.
Roy Fay would declare to anyone who would listen, I'm getting' married next Tuesday". Yep in his mind he was getting' married next Tuesday, aside from the fact that his future wife was non existent.
Roy Fay was fascinated with ambulances hearing them often. He would say there had been a bad wreck in Russelville.
He had a wagon that was pulled by a a very large horse named Tony and a smaller mule named Judy. He used them to plow gardens for a lot of people. He charged a 'hunnert' dollars to plow your garden. No one ever cheated him. They paid him well. To have cheated him would have made you not very popular for miles around, indeed so unpopular to be a candidate for a tar and feather episode.
Shortly after the food poisoning the Harbottle family took Roy Fay in and he lived there until both Mr and Mrs. Harbottle both passed away. After that a group was formed called friends of Roy Fay who cared for him.
When I was 18 I went to work in Pillstrom Nursing Home (formerly Pillstrom Hospital). I worked on the 3/11 shift. I had to put all the patients to bed after supper. I weighed about 100 lbs. Roy Fay came every evening with a bucket to pick up the scraps for his hogs I think. He also got to eat. We had our supper together and then that dear man would go and put the biggest ones to bed for me. He would just pick them up like you would a baby and lay them in bed. He was a life saver to me. The Administrator was a family friend and she hired me but she told my Mamma that she didn't think I'd ever be able to do it. Well when Mamma told me that I made it my business to prove her wrong. Without Roy Fay I would never have made it.
I remember Roy Fay fondly and I'm not the only one. Lots of people loved Roy Fay.

Tags: Mules Homeless Poison Friends