Willard Royston Hartley, or just Roy to those who knew him, passed away peacefully on February 4, 2025, in his 93rd year. Beloved husband of Retta, loving father of Stephen (Ruth), Alan (Christianne), and Gordon (Laurie), proud grandfather of Taylor and Jasmine, brother of Barbara (John Burton), brother-in-law to Joan (Fred Sisson), and friend to many.

Roy inherited drawing and drafting talents from his father and used those talents at the big wooden drafting boards at General Motors in Oshawa to design various parts for the autos and auto plant. Later in his career, he shifted gears and moved on to be a Supervisor in the Quality Assurance department, overseeing a troubleshooting and solutions team.

When the work week was done, the family loaded up the car, and it was off to the cottage. Roy loved his cottage. Buying vacant land over fifty years ago, he improved it over time from a tent site to a small all-in-one cabin, and finally to a full cottage. The cottage today is solid, warm, and dry, meant as a place to relax, not as a work project. By many people’s standards, it isn’t finished yet, but that was OK by him. It was even intentional. His emphasis was on family gathering and relaxing as close to the waterfront as he could get. Being out on the lake in his boat was even better than being on shore.

When not at the cottage, Roy used his talents to paint, mostly nature scenes. This too evolved over the decades from pencil sketches to oil paintings to watercolors, with many of his artworks on display in the family home. A quiet man with a good heart, he will be missed.

A Celebration of Roy’s Life will be held at a later date.

Funeral arrangements entrusted to Thornton Funeral Centre (1200 Thornton Road North, Oshawa, 905-579-6787).