Kanawha-Nicholas County WV Archives Obituaries.....Dilley, Roland Kyle April 3, 2000
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Kay Nichols nicholskay@bellsouth.net October 14, 2008, 1:46 pm

Troy, Michigan
TROY DAZE BOOSTER WAS 'TRUE GENTLEMAN'

Kyle Dilley could calm a tornado.  The longtime Troy resident had a knack for 
smoothing ruffled feelings and restoring peace, whether he was on the baseball 
field or at the city's annual Troy Daze festival.
"He was the ultimate country gentleman.  You never saw him get flustered out 
there with the public," said Jim Cyrulewski, Troy Daze chairman.  "He could 
talk to someone and really get them to calm down.  He'd get that charm across 
no matter how irate they were and when he got done talking, they'd say they 
were sorry.
"He loved to talk and spin stories.  He always had a big smile on his face.  
He was always friendly and with the heartiest laugh.  He will always be with 
us at Troy Daze."  
Dilley, 60, a West Virginia native known for his southern charm and giving 
spirit, died Monday April 3, 2000, at St. John Oakland Hospital in Madison 
Heights.  Doctors had detected lung cancer a few weeks before his death.  The 
diagnosis shocked friends and family who had seen Dilley bounce back from 
heart problems, a quadruple bypass and a series of strokes over the past few 
years.
"It's unbelievable," Cyrulewski said.  "You could see he had slowed down a 
little bit because of the strokes.  But you wouldn't have know he had heart 
problems and strokes.  He was out there doing everything he was doing when I 
met him 20 years ago."
Dilley and Cyrulewski joined forces in 1980 to revive the floundering 
community festival.  Dilley, an engineer for Ameritech Cellular Services, 
earned the Troy Distinguished Citizen Award 12 years later.
"I don't think anyone will be able to think about Troy Daze without knowing 
what he contributed," Cyrulewski added.
When he wasn't reading or puttering in the garden, tending to his iris plants 
Dilley involved himself in church and community service.
His pastor, the Rev. Warren Arndt of Faith Lutheran Church, knew him as an 
active churchgoer, a subdivision neighbor and fellow baseball enthusiast.
"Our sons played baseball together," Pastor Arndt said.  "I coached third base 
for him and he managed the team.  Whether he was working there with kids or in 
Boy Scouts, he was able to translate his gentleman's nature to the kids.  He 
had a calming effect.  He was a true gentleman."
Dilley served as an elder - spiritual leader - in the church.  He was a former 
general chairman of the congregation and often helped with the sound for 
children's plays and musicals in church.
"He had a compassion for people and their needs.  If you want to talk about 
someone with a listening ear, he'd be the one.  He had the ability to step out 
and deal with the pains and interests of other people," Arndt said.
Cecile Dilley and her husband often worked as a team on community service 
projects.  When he joined the Jaycees, she became an auxiliary member.  He 
handled a Boy Scout troop and she was a Cub Scout den mother.  Both were 
active in Troy Daze.
"He was a special man.  It's amazing how many people have shared stories about 
the way he touched their lives," she said.
The couple met over a plate of Cecile's homemade chicken at a USO dinner.  She 
was a volunteer for the USO.  He was stationed at Selfridge Air Base in Mt. 
Clemens.  "He said, I"m going to marry the girl that made that chicken," she 
recalled.  "I thought he was cocky.  I didn't like him at first."
The couple visited church together one Sunday during Lent, sharing strawberry 
shortcake after the service.  "The first time he kissed me I said, that's it."
They married on October 27, 1962.  After Dilley left the military service, the 
couple settled in Troy.  "He lived a good life.  We've done a lot of things 
and traveled a lot." Cecile noted.
Dilley, born on June 27, 1939 in Richwood, West Virginia, is survived by his 
sons, Roberet W. Dilley of Grand Blanc and Scott (Cynthia) Dilley of Sterling 
Heights; his sister Kay (Bill) Nichols of Sebring, FL; and two brothers, 
Edward Dilley of Lathrop, Missouri and John (Lila) Dilley of El Cajon, 
California.


Additional Comments:
son of:  Arnold Roland and Ove Helen Gillispie Dilley
grandson of:  Robert Lee and Ella Bryl Utt Gillispie
& Johnie Hanceford and Ocie Mae Frame Dilley

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wv/kanawha/obits/d/dilley26nob.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/wvfiles/

File size: 4.8 Kb