Roy Henry Drinkard of Cullman, Alabama, passed away on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at the age of 106, closing a life that spanned more than a century and touched generations of family, friends, employees, business associates, community leaders, and neighbors.
To attempt to summarize Roy’s life simply by listing the businesses he built, the honors he received, or even the remarkable number of years he lived would be to miss much of what made Roy who he was. He loved life, and perhaps even more than that, he loved people. He could talk to anyone, make a friend almost anywhere, and had a remarkable way of maintaining those friendships not only for years, but for generations. He once told his daughter Karen that one of the greatest gifts he could leave her was generational friendship—the kind passed from parents to children and then to grandchildren. By the end of his 106 years, those relationships were among the greatest measures of the life he had lived.
Roy was born July 12, 1920, in Falkville, Alabama, to Elbert Luther and Lucy Hardwick Drinkard. He grew up with three brothers and two sisters in a family already deeply connected to business and public service. His father was a businessman who also served as mayor of Falkville for many years. Roy’s own working life began early; by the age of nine, he was delivering newspapers.
He attended St. Bernard Preparatory School in Cullman and later graduated from Gupton-Jones College of Mortuary Science. During World War II, Roy served honorably in the United States Marine Corps as a Private First Class. His service remained a source of tremendous pride throughout his life, and at the time of his death, he was recognized as the nation’s oldest living United States Marine.
After the war, Roy returned to a profession that had long been part of the Drinkard family: funeral service. Trained as both a funeral director and mortician, he worked in the family’s funeral-home business and operated a funeral home in Guntersville before returning to Cullman. Under the Drinkard family, the business eventually grew to include numerous funeral homes across North Alabama.
It was work requiring compassion, steadiness, and the ability to sit with people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives—qualities that would remain recognizable in Roy long after his career moved on. There is something fitting in the fact that the man remembered for embracing life so completely began his professional career helping other families honor lives that had ended.
In 1949, Roy returned to Cullman, where he would remain deeply woven into the community for the next 77 years. That same year, at only 29 years old, he purchased the historic Borkenau, the Cullman home that would become the setting for countless family gatherings, celebrations, conversations, business meetings, visits from friends, and eventually generations of family.
Roy entered the automobile business as a partner in Drinkard Pontiac-GMC in 1949 and later established Drinkard Chevrolet Company in 1955. He operated the Chevrolet dealership until 1974, when he turned it over to his son-in-law, Mitch Smith.
Cars themselves, his family would later joke, were never really what interested him most. Roy liked the people, and he liked the deal. He liked meeting someone, finding common ground, solving a problem, and discovering what could come next. That instinct ultimately led him into the work for which he would become best known.
Roy established what became Drinkard Development, building an impressive career in commercial real estate and shopping-center development. From early projects in Cullman, including the development that became Town Square Shopping Center, his work expanded throughout Alabama and into Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, and beyond. His developments brought together major national retailers and helped shape commercial growth in communities across the Southeast.
Roy and his partners were recognized as the leading developer in the United States for Kmart in 1981 and for Kroger in 1982. His projects over the years included developments associated with retailers and businesses such as Walmart, Kroger, Winn-Dixie, J.C. Penney, Kmart, Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, ULTA, Tractor Supply, Rural King, AMC Theatres, Academy Sports, Food City, and many others. He also became an approved developer for the General Services Administration and participated in the development of government facilities throughout the Southeast.
Yet Drinkard Development was never simply a collection of properties to Roy; it became another family.
For decades, the people who worked beside him shared not only in the business but in his life. He continued going to work every day up until he entered the hospital in February 2026. Much of his final two years was spent working alongside his great-grandson, Roy Grimmett. Among those especially important to him were Judy White and Jason Grimmett, whose devotion to Roy extended far beyond business. They, along with the employees and longtime associates of Drinkard Development, became part of the extended family Roy created wherever he went.
His ability to build relationships also helped shape Cullman itself. Following World War II, Roy became one of the original members of the group remembered as the Flying Fifty, Cullman-area business and civic leaders who traveled throughout the country seeking industry and investment for a growing community. Their efforts helped recruit new employers and establish an industrial foundation that transformed Cullman County in the postwar era. Roy eventually became the last surviving member of the Flying Fifty.
He later served for nearly three decades as chairman of the Cullman Industrial Development Board and played a role in recruiting businesses and industries that created jobs and helped expand the local economy. He also served as president of the Cullman County Chamber of Commerce, chairman of the Cullman Planning Commission, and president of the Lions Club of Guntersville, among numerous other civic roles.
Roy was also a devoted Freemason for nearly 84 years, a commitment that spanned most of his adult life and reflected the same values of fellowship, service, and community that characterized so many of his other endeavors.
Education was another lifelong priority. Roy served as a director of what is now Wallace State Community College and later as chairman of the Wallace State Foundation, supporting scholarships and opportunities for students throughout the region. He also donated land for educational use and supported efforts that helped make higher education possible for numerous young people.
In April 2000, at almost 80 years old, Roy was appointed by Governor Don Siegelman to the Troy University Board of Trustees. He would continue serving Troy for more than a quarter-century, through multiple gubernatorial appointments and well beyond his 100th birthday. He loved Troy University, its students, its people, and, of course, Troy football.
His service earned numerous honors over the decades. Among them were recognition as Small Businessman of the Year in 1967, an award presented by then-Vice President Hubert Humphrey; the Dr. E.G. Plunkett Visionary Award; St. Bernard Preparatory School’s Distinguished Alumnus Award; recognition by the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce; induction into the Morgan County Hall of Fame; the Great American Hero Award; the Dr. Jack Hawkins Lifetime Achievement Award; and recognition as one of Cullman’s most distinguished citizens. The City of Cullman presented Roy with the key to the city in 2017.
At his 105th birthday celebration at the Borkenau, friends, family members, university leaders, elected officials, and community members gathered to honor him. A flag flown over the United States Capitol was presented in his honor, and a tribute to his life was entered into the Congressional Record.
Roy was proud of all he had accomplished. He was proud to be a Marine, proud of his businesses, proud of Cullman, proud of Alabama, and proud of the educational institutions and organizations he had been privileged to serve. But his family and close friends knew there were things he valued even more.
At the age of 100, Roy added fraternity brother to his already long list of titles when he joined his great-grandson Julius’s fraternity, Delta Chi, at Troy University. It was one more example of Roy’s willingness to keep saying yes to new experiences and to remain an active part of the lives of the generations that followed him.
Roy loved fishing in Guntersville, especially for bream. First came trips with his two daughters, Karen and Sharon, then his four granddaughters—Michele, Nicole, Tracy, and Natalie—and later trips with his great-grandchildren, especially Julius and Joseph. Those outings produced enough stories to fill a book, although the accuracy, legality, and fairness of some of Roy’s fishing methods may remain matters of debate.
He loved New Orleans and returned to it whenever he could, always inviting Madelyne, who he knew loved the city as much as he did. He loved Troy football, Grapico, roasting marshmallows, a good story, and anyone willing to sit down long enough for a conversation. He loved hearing Morgan say, “Hey Pawpaw, it’s Morgan!” and responding, “Hey Morgan, it’s Pawpaw!”
He loved the long-running Buck Island Bash in Guntersville, a family and friendship tradition that stretched across roughly 70 years and became part of his annual Fourth of July celebration.
He also had a deep love for what he called “Pawpaw’s Night.” Every week for years, his great-grandchildren gathered with him, and the nights when everyone could be together—particularly around the holidays—became a treasured family tradition. He enjoyed hearing what everyone was doing, keeping up with their lives, telling stories, and simply having them near him. He had his own relationship with each generation.
Family accomplishments mattered deeply to Roy as well. Having served his own country as a Marine during World War II, he was especially proud when his great-grandson, Mitchell Collins, continued that tradition of service by joining the United States Navy.
He took each generation of grandchildren and their friends on memorable trips. One of Rachael’s favorite memories was when he took her and her friends to the Final Four, and all he wanted in exchange was an Auburn pin. He always called to check in and never ended a call without reminding them that he loved them. He also always remembered milestones. After the birth of his first great-great-grandchild, Collins Tilley, Roy delighted in calling to recognize her monthly milestones and wish her a happy one-month, two-month, three-month, and every-month birthday as she grew over the last year. To have lived long enough not only to know his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, but to hold and know a great-great-grandchild was a gift he treasured deeply.
Roy also understood friendship as something more than companionship. To him, friendship could become inheritance. Families who had known one another for one generation often remained connected in the next. Fishing partners became the sons and daughters of fishing partners. Business associates became lifelong friends. Their children became friends with his children. Their grandchildren knew his grandchildren. He was a man who accumulated relationships the way others accumulate possessions, and he considered himself rich because of them.
Roy was a longtime member of First Baptist Church of Cullman, where his faith remained an important part of his life for more than 75 years. Although not Catholic, he maintained a deep love for St. Bernard Abbey after having attended school at St. Bernard and sometimes referred to himself, with affection and humor, as a “Benedictine Baptist.”
Whenever he was asked late in life to share a lesson learned across more than a century, his answer was a simple verse from the Gospel of John: “Love one another as I have loved you.”
That philosophy was perhaps the best explanation of Roy Drinkard. He had spent his life creating businesses, developments, scholarships, and opportunities, but what mattered most at the end were the people who filled them.
Roy is survived by his daughters, Dr. Karen Drinkard and Sharon Smith; his grandchildren, Michele Drinkard, Juliet “Nicole” Swann, Tracy Smith, Natalie Smith Grimmett, and Seth Swann; his great-grandchildren, Mitchell Collins, Julius Boggus (Hannah), Roy Grimmett, Madelyne Grimmett, Morgan Grimmett, and Rachael Tilley (Logan); and his great-great-granddaughter, Collins Tilley.
He is also survived by numerous beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and extended family members; generations of friends; his Drinkard Development family; many longtime business associates; and more friends than anyone could attempt to count. And, of course, he leaves behind Gracie, his cat.
Roy was preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Edythe Naomi Lee; his parents, Elbert Luther Drinkard and Lucy Hardwick Drinkard; his brothers, William Drinkard, Elbert Luther Drinkard Jr., and John Drinkard; his sisters, Sarah Drinkard and Anna “Jeanne” Skelton; his son-in-law, Mitch Smith; and his great-grandson, Joseph Boggus.
After 106 years, Roy had also lived long enough to say goodbye to an extraordinary number of friends, relatives, business partners, neighbors, and contemporaries who went before him. Their names and stories remained with him, just as his will remain with those who survive him.
His final year challenged a body that had carried him through more than a century. After a lengthy hospitalization, Roy was determined to return to the Borkenau in time for his 106th birthday. He did, and six weeks later, surrounded by the legacy of a life that had never stopped moving forward, he passed away.
The length of Roy Drinkard’s life was extraordinary, and the fullness of it was greater still. He lived through a century of war and peace, depression and prosperity, enormous technological and social change, and the transformation of the small Alabama communities he had known as a boy. He helped families part with their loved ones, sold cars, and built shopping centers. He helped bring jobs to numerous communities. He supported schools and universities. He served his country. He received awards and shook hands with presidents, governors, senators, university presidents, and other national leaders.
Despite all of this, he was perhaps happiest sitting at home around the fire or on the porch with family gathered around him, telling a story he had probably changed the outcome of because no one else was alive to dispute it, planning another trip, watching Troy football, drinking a Grapico, or welcoming yet another friend through the door.
The reach of Roy’s life can perhaps be seen most clearly in the people who knew him. Across business, education, public service, faith, and friendship, those relationships became as much a part of his legacy as anything he built or accomplished. In remembering Roy, several of those who knew him well shared their own reflections on the man they were fortunate enough to call a friend.
John H. Merrill, Alabama Secretary of State, 2015–2023
“It is difficult to put into words how much one man can mean to so many people. Mr. Roy had a tremendous impact on his local community, county, Alabama, and our nation as a whole. He was a true patriot who dedicated his life to service and to improving the quality of life for all those he came in contact with. We will always be grateful for his friendship and the memories we shared. God blessed America with his special life.”
Dr. Vicki Karolewics, President of Wallace State Community College
“Roy Drinkard was a brilliant businessman, a devoted Christian, a staunch Troy University advocate, a patriotic Marine, a proud father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and a loyal friend who loved his community. From our first meal until our last moments together, I cherished him and our friendship. My life is immeasurably richer for having known him.”
U.S. Representative Robert Aderholt
“Mr. Roy Drinkard was many things: a World War II veteran, a successful businessman, a visionary, a philanthropist, and so much more. He was one of those men that comes along once in a generation. However, Roy will be remembered for loving his family, his friends, his community, his country and, most of all, his God. Caroline and I are grateful to have known Roy, and even more grateful to have been able to call him our friend.”
Dr. Jack Hawkins, Jr., Chancellor of Troy University
“Mr. Roy was a proud Marine. He was an inspiration—devoted to his family, faith and to the preservation of freedom. As America’s oldest living Marine from World War II, he exemplified ‘freedom is not free.’ As a beloved Trustee of Troy University, he shall forever hold a special place in the hearts and minds of all Troy Trojans. May our dear friend rest in peace.”
Father Joel Martin, O.S.B., President of St. Bernard Preparatory School
Father Joel remembered both Roy’s thoughtfulness and the humor with which he carried his extraordinary longevity:
“Mr. Drinkard convinced me to fly with him to Troy University in his plane. When we got there, he’d arranged for me to meet a hero of mine, the famous musician Johnny Long.”
He also recalled Roy being asked how one becomes the oldest living Marine.
“He replied, ‘You just have to be a coward.’”
U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville
“Roy Drinkard’s life was a story of service—to his country, his community, his church, and his beloved Troy Trojans. From serving in World War II as part of the Greatest Generation, to developing many successful businesses, Roy didn’t waste a minute of his 106 years on earth. He was proud to be an American and proud to be from Alabama, which is why he worked tirelessly to make our state an even better place to call home. We mourn the loss of this great American hero, but we celebrate a life well lived as we continue to honor his memory.”
Jeff Cunningham, Friend, Attorney and Banker
“Roy truly loved people and cherished his interactions with persons from all walks of life. He loved to tell their stories and celebrate their lives. Most of all, Roy valued true friendship. Whether greeting you upon your arrival or wishing you farewell at the end of a visit, you knew that you were in the presence of a true friend who loved you and truly valued the time spent with you.”
Doug Hendrickson, Friend and Business Partner
“I do not have anything remotely close to the ability to convey into mere words what an incredible man Mr. Drinkard was, both professionally and personally, and how very much I loved him, respected him, admired him, and truly cherished our relationship.”
Taken together, their words reflect the many different parts of Roy’s life, but also the quality that connected them all: his extraordinary ability to make people feel welcomed, valued, and remembered.
That was Roy, and after 106 years, there are still far more stories to tell than could ever fit here.
Written by Madelyne Grimmett, great-granddaughter of Roy Henry Drinkard.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that those wishing to honor Roy’s memory consider making a contribution to education, a cause that remained deeply important to him throughout his life. Memorial gifts may be directed to the Drinkard Development Legacy Scholarship or the Drinkard Development Endowed Scholarship, both at Wallace State Community College, or to Troy University foundation in memory of Roy H. Drinkard.
Visitation will be held at Roy’s home, The Borkenau, 405 9th St SW, Cullman, AL 35055, on Thursday, August 27, from 2:00–6:00 p.m.
The funeral service will be held at Tom Drake Coliseum, 801 College Dr, Hanceville, AL 35077, on Friday, August 28, at 1:00 p.m. A graveside service and interment will follow at Cullman City Cemetery.
The family would be honored to have you join them in remembering and celebrating Roy’s extraordinary life.
Moss Service Funeral Home is directing. To leave condolences and/or pictures of yourself and Mr. Drinkard for the family, please visit mossservicefh.com.
