Royale Douglas ‘R.D.’ Lewis

    Royale Douglas “R.D.” Lewis died Saturday, January 30, 2021, in Lubbock, Texas, from complications caused by COVID-19.
    Royale was born June 14, 1941, in Lamesa, Texas, to Andrew James and Mae Oma Lewis. In 1959, he graduated from Ackerly High School, where he was a basketball standout. In the 62 years since, his high school class has held dozens of class reunions, and he was reported to have never missed one. 
    In 1961, Royale received his associate’s degree in General Studies from Lubbock Christian College, where he played basketball, sang in the Acapella Chorus, and was a member of the Koinonia social club and Rodeo Club. 
    He completed his bachelor’s degree at West Texas State University in 1964 and earned his master’s degree in range management from Texas Tech University in 1979. 
    Royale married Carol, his college sweetheart, at Gail Church of Christ on June 22, 1962. 
    After graduating from West Texas State, Royale worked as a health inspector for the City of Amarillo before entering the U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidates School in Quantico, Va., in 1966. Soon thereafter, Royale served two tours in Vietnam before being stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he and Carol had their first child, Shelly.
    After an honorable discharge as Marine captain, Royale and his family moved to Fluvanna, Texas, where he began farming. In 1971, he was named Young Farmer of the Year by the area farmers association. Soon thereafter, the couple moved to Snyder, where Royale became a Scurry County sheriff’s deputy and where the couple’s second child, Amy, was born. Royale maintained a lifelong friendship with his boss, Sheriff Keith Collier, and his family.
    In 1974, the couple built their forever home on the family farm in Fluvanna. Shawn was born the next year, and Royale farmed cotton and raised cattle, horses, sheep and pigs while helping his children raise dozens of stock show animals throughout the years.
    In 1989, Royale was elected Borden County sheriff, winning re-election in 1993 and 1997 before retiring from the sheriff’s office in 2001. During that time, he also served as Borden County’s tax assessor, tax collector and chief appraiser. These and other roles in the county led the Dallas Morning News to feature him in an article headlined, “Sheriff in remote Texas county juggles six other jobs” on April 16, 1990. The article was later excerpted by at least one college textbook on state and local government. He retired as chief appraiser in 2002, ending nearly 20 years in service to Borden County government. 
    Royale was a member of Eastside Church of Christ in Snyder from 1970-89; after his election as sheriff led the family to move to Gail, he worshipped and served as a church leader at Gail Church of Christ until his death. 
    Royale was a cowboy at heart, participating in saddle bronc riding and steer wrestling at rodeos in high school, college and the Marines. He was in the Rodeo Club at Lubbock Christian College and on the rodeo team at Camp Pendleton, winning a number of belt buckles and trophies. In the mid-1970s, he participated in the rodeo circuit for steer wrestling with the goal of qualifying for the National Finals Rodeo. 
    He could design and build anything and was particularly skilled at designing attachments for tractors and his skid steer. When employees at Warren Cat Caterpillar dealership in Lubbock saw the tree-grubbing attachment he built by hand for his skid steer, they considered buying the design from him for mass production.  
    He was a lover of knowledge, engrossing himself into topics that became his hobbies. As such, he was an expert on rodeo sports, sailing, polo and leather and metal working. He was a talented leather worker, and for a decade made beautiful saddles, chaps, wallets, purses, gun holsters and other items for family and friends. 
    Royale and Carol sailed together for more than a decade, making friends with the small population of West Texas sailboat owners that sailed Alan Henry, O.H. Ivie and Possum Kingdom, to name a few area lakes. When Carol fought breast cancer in the early 2000s, the sailboat was their getaway to relax. 
    He played polo for several years, participating in chukkers at the Midland and Lubbock polo clubs. He cleared the open field north of the family home in Gail for use as a polo practice field, which he and Shawn used regularly. 
    Royale also enjoyed trading tractors, shredders, skid steers, trailers, plows, loaders and all other forms of farm and ranch equipment. Many a neighbor bought, sold, borrowed or bartered equipment with R.D.
    He is survived by his three children: daughter Shelly Bolton of Kerrville, her husband, Scott, and their four children, Jessie B, Kalyn Mae, Andrew and Maribelle; daughter Amy Martin of Kennedale, her husband, Chad, and their three children, Kelsey, Quincy and Eli; and son Shawn Lewis of Englewood, Colo. He is preceded in death by his wife, Carol (Patterson) Lewis, who died January 26—four days prior—also from complications caused by COVID-19.
    To ensure the safety of others, Royale had decided before his death to delay a celebration of his life until it is safe to do so. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to some Royale’s favorite charities:
    -Arms of Hope, armsofhope.org
    -Christian Relief Fund, christianrelieffund.org
    -Children’s Home of Lubbock, childshome.org
– Press-Reporter obituary services