Roy Droel, left; Roy & Betty Weiland Droel's wedding picture, right.

You have asked your subscribers to share a little about themselves, and this will be just a bird's eye view of a very fine man, Roy Droel. I happen to be fortunate enough to be sharing his life, and we are living in a suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul ... in a home Roy and Edith built about 40 years ago. An acre of manicured lawn, and more trees than I can count shading a beautiful back yard. Mostly evergreens that shed their cones. We have lots of fresh air and sunshine to keep it up.

Roy just finished mowing this acre of back yard...

Roy and Edith had been married for 50 years when she died of cancer. A devastating experience, to say the least, for Roy and his two boys, Darrel and Rodger.

Roy worked as a machinist at Union Welding -- the supervisor for over 30 years -- until he retired. Roy and Edith had meeting in their home until Edith died in 1991.

Roy and I were married February 18, 1993. I had worked for Dr. Thomas W. Miller, the chiropractor, for 13 years, but I am retired. (See Bulletin 152)

The Roy & Edith Droel Family, circa 1955.

This is where the story starts for us. That is a picture of Roy and Edith with Rodger on the left and Darrel on the right. They came to our home for meeting when I was still at home. They were such a shy, quiet family. You can see by the paper upside down that Roy wanted to hide. They stayed for dinner one Sunday, and I took this picture. This was probably taken about 50 years ago. We always felt that the Droels were a special family.

I can not take it in yet that I have married this fine man. Edith was such a pretty and sweet lady. We always thought they were the ideal family. Both boys are very successful businessmen.

Any more that can be said about our family, is that we are very happy, and thankful for our good health, except for a stroke Roy suffered about four years ago which left him with a weak left side. The most important part of our life is our faith. When all the joys and sorrows of life are past, that is when our privilege of both being brought up in truth will see us through the next step of life.

Betty Weiland Droel's birth family.

My brother Rich and and his wife, Verlaine (left), live in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. Roy and Betty Droel (center) live in MoundsView, seven miles away. Ruth and Ken Kitto (right) live in Apache Junction, Arizona. Our mother, Rosalyn Weiland (front), is in an assisted living residence in Coon Rapids; she will be 100 years old on July 10, 2005. Harold, my brother, died in 1998; his widow, Anita Pfingsten Weiland, lives in Yankton, South Dakota, and was not present when this was taken.

One of the questions Dorothy asked to help us write our biographies was, "How are you related to the Matriarch -- or how were you introduced to The Bulletin?"

Well I knew this dear lady, the Matriarch, since the polio season of 1946, so many years ago, as that is when we heard about this Dorothy Dake that had gotten polio. A sad and much talked about disaster ... then I met her when we were in their field in about 1959.

As far as how I got acquainted with The Bulletin, that is a puzzle to me. I am getting very forgetful. Was it that you had written me and commented on being busy with The Bulletin, or what? Of course my curiosity was insisting I learn more about this Bulletin that Dorothy was putting out ... and then I got a sample copy. So, I was hooked!!!!

It is such a happiness to get it each Saturday, and thank you so much for letting me be a part of it. I wish we really knew how hard you and Jerrianne work to put this out. The layout alone would take hours, plus the sorting and editing, and making it look so professional. I'm afraid we could easily take it for granted.

We thank you,
Roy and Betty