Roy E. Bliss

     Roy E Bliss born at home on the farm near Towanda Illinois March 5, 1918 passed away on March 24, 2019 at the age of 101.  Two weeks before he passed, he had renewed his driver’s license for 5 years. Roy attended Illinois State and then a nearby Business College and joined the Army Air Corp in 1941 after a short stint working for a Farm Implement Company as credit manager in Peoria IL. While in the Air Corp Roy excelled at flying.  After flying several different airplane models from Stearman to Beech 18’s he ended his military tour flying B-29s. In 1942 while stationed at Luke AFB in Phoenix Roy met Nellie Taylor from Wyoming. After a three-month whirlwind romance, they were married on Nellie’s birthday March 26, 1942. After the Air Force Roy had a couple of accounting jobs then struck out on his own by building a Culligan Soft Water company in Worland Wyoming.

     In 1953 Roy built the second Cable TV system in Worland Wyoming and it was one of the very early Cable systems in the US.  He went on to build Cable systems in six towns in Wyoming and starting in 1965 built several Cable systems near his birth place in Illinois.  During his Wyoming days Roy took an FCC (Federal Communications Commission) ruling against his company Carter Mountain Transmission all the way to the US Supreme Court.   Roy and Nellie retired in Mesa Arizona in 1980.

     In addition to being a business leader in both Wyoming and Illinois Roy was a bible scholar and devout Christian. Roy was predeceased by his wife of 70 years Nellie and is survived by his three children Roy L. Bliss, Rolain Francke and Nel (Nelda) Katibian, nine grandchildren, 24 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren. 

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