Obituary of Elroy Joseph Inchalik

Elroy J. "Roy" Inchalik April 1, 1927 - September 30, 2012 Chapel Hill Elroy J. "Roy" Inchalik, 85, passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning of September 30, 2012 at the Carolina Meadows retirement community after an 8-month struggle with cancer. Roy spent his childhood in Passaic, NJ with his older sister Winnie and his parents Joseph and Winifred. He graduated salutatorian from Passaic High School in January 1945 before enlisting in the U. S. Navy on his 18th birthday. He subsequently served as a supply-boat skipper at Pearl Harbor, HI until his honorable discharge in August 1946. In 1947, he met his future wife, Beverly Kappeler, at a YMCA dance in Passaic. They were married on September 2, 1950. Roy attended Sampson College in NY, Seton Hall in NJ and earned a B.S. at Ohio University in 1951. In 1955, he earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Penn State University, graduating on the same day as the birth of the couple's first child, Michael, in Bellefonte, PA. He subsequently moved his family to Metuchen, NJ and then to Cranford, NJ, where they resided for 44 years. Roy was very active in his children's lives, coaching numerous youth baseball teams and leading Boy Scout activities. He taught his children and grandchildren his love for bass fishing on the same lakes he fished as a boy with his father and uncle. Roy also enjoyed singing in a local barbershop quartet. Roy was employed for 37 years by Exxon Research and Engineering Co. in Linden, NJ, Manhattan, and one year overseas in Rouen, France. He retired in 1992 as a Senior Research Associate. He holds two U.S. patents in the field of organic chemistry. In retirement, Roy and Beverly took numerous college courses and traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe to study history and culture, and to visit family and friends. The couple moved from Cranford to the Carolina Meadows retirement community in January, 2003, where they have been active participants in various groups focused on current events, politics, theater, cinema, dancing, bowling and croquet. Roy leaves behind his devoted wife of 62 years, Beverly, their four sons, Michael, Kenneth, Jeffrey and Thomas, their daughter, Patricia, and their treasured 13 grandchildren. Michael and his wife Mary Beth, their son Ben and daughter Tina reside in Valencia, CA; Kenneth and his wife Barbara Ho, live in Glastonbury, CT and their daughter Libby lives in Parma, Italy; Patricia, her husband Michael Miller, and their sons Doug and Greg reside in Fairport, NY; Jeffrey and his sons Lane, Jackson, Sam and Andrew live in Guilford, CT; and Thomas and his wife Caprice, with their sons Troy, Price and James, and daughter Lillian, live in Loomis, CA. For 45 years, Roy and Bev created the warm and enduring tradition of an annual family gathering at Woodloch Pines Family Resort in the Poconos, PA that grew to include 23 family members, culminating in a full reunion in Roy's honor this past August. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, Chapel Hill at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 5, with interment to follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be directed to the American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org Online condolences can be made at walkersfuneralservice.com