Featured image: Roy Hamilton and wife, Lorena

by Karen Yvonne Hamilton, 2025

Roy Philip Hamilton was born on January 21, 1921, in Key West, Florida, to Eugene Joseph ‘King Gene’ HAMILTON (1883-1966) and Rebecca Elizabeth JOHNSON (1887-1947). 

SIBLINGS

Roy was the second to the youngest of 9 children. Roy’s siblings included

In 1930, he lived with his parents at Poinciana Point in the Everglades. Other members of the Hamilton clan  living on the island were Richard (Robert) Hamilton, George Hamilton, Walter Hamilton, William “Buddy” Hamilton, and Salvador Gomes, and Leon Hamilton.

Their family is also listed on the 1930 Key West census as living at 1415 Pearl St. Key West, FL. 

Ancestry .com’s transcription of the 1935 census erroneously lists James Stocker as Roy’s father. There is no error on the census itself however. Roy is clearly listed as the son of Eugene & Rebecca Hamilton. 

Roy married Lorena Raulerson in Collier, Florida, on November 21, 1939, when he was 18 years old.

In 1940, Roy lived with his wife, Lorena, his parents, and his brother Eugene on the Lostmans River. All worked as fishermen. His nephew, Ralph Knowles, age 4 also lived with them. Other members of his family lived nearby on the island: Salvador Gomes, Leon Hamilton, Henry Hamilton, and Walter Hamilton.

Roy’s 1942 draft card describes him as 6’1″ and 201 lbs with blue eyes and brown hair and a ruddy complexion. It is noted that he has a “small scar over left eye on forehead” and a “small birthmark on the right wrist.”

LOSSES

  • His brother William Joseph died in 1932 when Roy Philip was 11 years old.
  • His mother Rebecca Elizabeth passed away on April 11, 1947, in Everglades City, Florida, at the age of 60.
  • His sister Ellen Cathleen died in November 1963 in Fort Myers, Florida.
  • His sister Ethel Madelyn died on December 31, 1964, in Naples, Florida.
  • His sister Rosalie M. died on December 28, 1965.
  • His father Eugene Joseph passed away on December 25, 1966.

DEATH

Roy Philip Hamilton died on November 18, 1969, when he was 48 years old. He was laid to rest at Fort Myers Cemetery, Fort Myers, Lee County, Florida, Plot 4th North Addition, B-1, Sp 24.

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SOURCES

Florida Marriage Collection, 1822-1875 and 1927-2001; Florida State Census records; Florida Death Index, 1877-1998; News Press 1969 11 20 Page 2 ROY HAMILTON OBIT; U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947