Elder Speak: Joe Roy heeds God’s voice in charting his journey through life
Joe Roy, a long-time licensed pastoral and mental health counselor in the valley, seems uniquely suited to be a participant in this year’s Elder Speak program, put on by the Ripple Foundation. For his PhD in psychology dissertation at The Union Institute, he interviewed men about their experience of being a grandfather. To this day, Dr. Roy continues to be fascinated by the wisdom of grandparents.
As for the wisdom he learned, “it is that grandparents can be very important in these challenging times. Often they have a significant role in nurture and moral development, because parents are frequently busy with work, discipline and managing life,” according to Roy.
The Ripple Foundation’s Elder Speak program encourages elders to explore the wisdom they have learned and to share those insights with their family and the community.
Joe Roy is joining his wife Merry, Glen Carlson and Ron Scutt as Elder Speak participants this year. They’ve been meeting regularly to explore lessons they’ve learned and wisdom they want to pass along.
Joe Roy’s life has taken some interesting twists and turns that led him to his focus on both mind, body and spirit as well as the healing aspects of outdoor experiences. Peace building and service to others have characterized the volunteer efforts he has chosen.
He was born and raised in the Midwest. As a child, he fell in love with the wonders of the natural world and he also loved science, even winning a high school science competition.
From an early age, he recalls having experiences of the presence of God in his life. “Sometimes you think you’re talking to yourself. Other times, I know it is God,” Roy told me.
At different times of his life, he felt an impelling call to listen to that inner voice. He was a lieutenant in the Marines during the Vietnam War but “I felt a very strong presence of God coming to me and saying ‘This isn’t why I created you,’” Roy recalled. He decided to register as a conscientious objector and was honorably discharged.
That led to volunteering with Martin Luther King Jr. for racial justice in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, where he worked as a community organizer. Both Merry and Joe ended up teaching in inner-city schools in Baltimore, and Joe became intrigued with the Outward Bound movement. Joe had experience in rock climbing as well as military experience and became an Outward Bound instructor.
The Roys moved to Oregon and then went on to teach similar programs in Europe. Joe witnessed the power of transformation that happened when mind, body and spirit were engaged in team-oriented, character-building activities.
Joe and Merry took teaching jobs at Wenatchee High School in 1970 where they taught for two years before they headed to Boston for Joe’s graduate work in pastoral counseling and theology.
Ultimately, they returned to Wenatchee where Merry continued her work as an educator and Joe worked at Wenatchee Valley College and later started a practice in pastoral counseling and psychotherapy practice.
He worked with Wenatchee High School biology teacher Bill Asplund on the effort to preserve the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and also got involved in disaster relief with Church World Service, helping after Hurricane Katrina, the 911 attacks and other crises.
For eight years, Roy was a volunteer with the local hospice program and also helped counsel some of the high students after a school shooting in the mid 1990s. His volunteer work later took him to Burundi in Africa after the genocide as people were experiencing post traumatic stress disorder. He was on the board of THARS, a Seattle-based nonprofit doing trauma healing and conflict resolution in Burundi.
Together, Merry and Joe have five children, two by birth and three by adoption.
The Elder Speak participants will speak at Snowy Owl Theater in Leavenworth On Sept 7 and at the Wenatchee Valley Museum and Cultural Center on Oct. 9. For more information, check out theripplefoundation.org.
