Obituary of Roydon S. Margolies

Roy S. Margolies, 90 years old, of Mountainside, NJ died on 9-9-2013 after a short illness. His Hebrew name is Shlomo Yitzak. Roy was born in New York, NY. He graduated from Lehigh University with degrees in mechanical and industrial engineering. He was a licensed professional engineer in NJ and other states. Roy was most proud of his naval service in the South Pacific during WWII. At the time, he received his officers' commission on graduating midshipman's school at age 20. He was one of the youngest commissioned officers in the Navy. He went on to serve as the engineering officer of an amphibious assault ship (LST 741) in the Southwest Pacific, participating in the D-day landings in the Leyte Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, Mindoro Gulf, and others in the Philippines. During this time, his ship was credited with shooting down five enemy planes. He earned five combat stars on his area ribbons. Roy was a "plankowner" as a member of his ship's crew while the ship was being built, and was the last member of the original crew, still on board when the ship was decommissioned after the war. He was separated from active duty as a full lieutenant and spent twenty more years in the "stand-by" Naval Reserve. He held several positions in American industry including a period as a department head in an engineering firm that designed and built the first nuclear power plant in the country (in Shipping Port, PA). He later held management positions in several manufacturing firms. During this period he served as a group leader in warehousing and distribution, sponsored by the American Management Association. He was a life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He served on the allocation committee of the Plainfield-Fanwood United Fund and was appointed to the Hudson County Transportation Commission. Roy was a member of the Mountainside part of the Veterans of Foreign War and a forty year member of the Raritan Yacht Club. He leaves behind his wife Penny (Naomi), a founder of the Jewish Community Center, with who he shared 63 years of happy marriage; a son Dr. David Margolies, Professor in the Department of Entymology at Kansas State, and his wife Sheila Hochouser; a daughter Dr. Debra Roquet, a forensic psychologist; granddaughters Hannah, restaurant manager, and Rebecca, a Harvard Graduate; and grandsons Nathaniel, a Biophysics doctoral candidate at Harvard, and Sam, a student of Manhattan KS. Roy didn't take anything in life too seriously, except for his sailing, his model railroad, and of course his wife of 63 years - he'd better have! If you like what you have seen please throw soft money at Temple Sholom (Scotch Plains-Fanwood) toward its new building. Funeral Services will be held on, September 11th, 2013, at 12 noon at Temple Sholom, 74 South Martine Ave., Fanwood, NJ. Interment will follow at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery, Iselin, NJ. Memorial donations in his name can be made to: Temple Sholom Building Beautification Fund, 74 South Martine Ave., Fanwood, NJ 07023. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Higgins Home for Funerals, 209 West 8th Street, Plainfield, NJ.