William Royce Stroud

William “Royce” Stroud of Atlanta, Georgia passed away peacefully on December 13, 2019 surrounded by his family.
Royce was born January 23, 1937 in Belleville, Illinois to Bill and Freda (Woods) Stroud. Royce graduated from Purdue University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, with distinction. While at Purdue, Royce played baseball for Purdue University and, in his senior year, was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which is one “of the most prestigious conference awards in college athletics.” The Big Ten Medal of Honor is awarded to one student-athlete who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.” In college, he was also a member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. Later, Royce attended the Program for Management Development at Harvard University Graduate School of Business.
After graduation from Purdue, Royce served in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and then worked at Exxon (then Esso) in Baton Rouge where he met his future wife. Royce married Elayne Prados on December 16, 1960. Together they had three children, William Randall Stroud, Holly Elizabeth Stroud and Cynthia Stroud Harris. After several transfers with his company, the couple moved to Houston, Texas in 1970, which is where they raised their children. Starting in 1986, Royce and Elayne then traveled the world for his work, living in New Jersey, St. Croix, Raleigh, Romania, London, Antigua, Antwerp and Atlanta.
Royce held several patents in the oil & gas field. He worked for Exxon, Conoco and Hess Oil and also owned two engineering firms, Stroud Engineering and RefTech. He traveled to Romania and Russia to upgrade certain of their oil refineries to western standards. He was President of the West Indies Oil Company in Antigua where he was instrumental in the construction of a new oil refinery on the island of Antigua.
Royce was a very loving and dedicated husband and father. He was always there for his children, volunteering at their school activities and just being an overall great dad. He and his daughter Holly had a tradition of going to Houston Astros games together where he taught her his love of baseball. Royce also volunteered in the community extensively, especially through his church. In Houston, he was Chairman of the Vestry at Christ Church Cathedral. In Atlanta, he served as Treasurer of the Cathedral of St. Philip’s. He also served for many years as a Marshall at the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta and other local golf tournaments.
Although he didn’t live in the past, two accomplishments from high school stand out. As a lifeguard, Royce saved the life of a drowning boy. He also pitched a no-hitter to help his baseball team win the state high school championship
Royce was preceded in death by his wife, Elayne, and his sister, Patricia Evans. He is survived by his three children, Randall (and his wife, Jorgelina Araneda), Holly (and her husband, Robert Sinos) & Cynthia (and her husband, Greg Harris). He is also survived by his three grandchildren, Rachel Corvin (and her husband, Alex Corvin), William Harris and McIver Harris, and one great grandchild, Claire Corvin. Also surviving him are his niece, Jeri Evans, his nephews, Richard Evans and John Evans, and many relatives on his wife’s side of the family.
A Memorial Service for Royce will be held at the Chapel at Canterbury Court in Atlanta on Thursday, December 19 at 3:00pm.
Royce was a wonderful man who was very much loved and will be greatly missed.
His family expresses their deepest thanks and gratitude to the staff at Canterbury Court and the loving caregivers at Homewell for their service to Royce in his final months