Paul Harry Royal

Paul Harry Royal, our Dad and Papou passed away on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at the age of 70. Paul was born on December 19, 1953 in Salt Lake City to Harry Royal Jr. and Betty Gianelos Royal. Over the course of his childhood he kept his family on their toes with the adventures he would enjoy. His adventures ranged from telling his family he was going to jump off the roof because he could fly when he was about six years old to drowning the back lawn with water when he invited all of the neighborhood friends over for a slip n’ slide adventure to letting the air out of his dad’s tires because he liked working on cars. This love of cars continued throughout his life. Some of his first cars were a yellow Camaro and a red Corvette which he proudly drove around Salt Lake with his Greek pride vanity plates.

Paul attended Riverside and Bishop Glass for elementary and middle school. He then attended Judge Memorial Catholic High School for several years but ended up graduating from West High School in 1972. During his time in high school, he participated in debate and played on the men’s soccer team. He then served in the National Guard after completing his training at Fort Polk Louisiana. He often recalled how his number was 1 away from being called to serve over in Vietnam and how he wished it would have been because he wanted to serve his country like his dad had. He attended several years at the University of Utah where he studied English but decided that he wanted to pursue his certification in welding and steelwork.

One day, on a normal trip to Valley Bank to visit his cousin who worked there, he met Jeanne Evans who would later become his wife. Jeanne and Paul were married at Holy Trinity Cathedral on November 24, 1979. It truly was a big, fat Greek wedding where they danced the night away with family and friends at the Hotel Utah. Eight years later they would welcome their only child, a daughter, Mary. In 2012, Jeanne passed away and Paul never fully got over her absence. He never took off his wedding ring and would go visit her weekly at the cemetery.

Paul worked as a welder for the first many years of his career. He worked at Kennecott Copper Corporation, Syro Steel, and Bish’s Steel Fabrication. During his time at Syro Steel he served as the Union President and proudly stood with his union brothers many times on the strike line. He later worked for the Newspaper Agency Corporation as a Safety Manager and finally at Fastenal Company as a Traffic Manager.

Paul was a life-long proud member of the Greek Orthodox community of Salt Lake. Paul spent his youth in the Greek Boy Scouts, served in the altar at Holy Trinity Cathedral, and graduated from the Sunday School program. As an adult he served in the gyro booth at the Greek Festival for many years, ran in the Greek Festival 5K and loved going to church and being around the Greek culture he was incredibly proud of.

Paul was passionate about his Greek culture, his love of cars, and the Beatles. He was probably the biggest Beatles fan you’d ever meet and passed that passion onto his daughter who he went to three Paul McCartney concerts with, walked across Abbey Road in London, and visited each of the Beatles childhood homes in Liverpool. He also loved working out and could be found at the gym every morning as the doors were opening (somedays he even got there before the doors opened), or riding his bike on the weekends around Liberty Park before going to the gym. He was also passionate about his work and his family. He was dedicated to his job and would answer phone calls even when he was on vacation to make sure everything was running smoothly.

He excelled as a family man. He loved Jeanne and cared for her up to her dying day, sitting with her in the hospital and refusing to give up hope of her recovery. As a son, he was unmatched. He loved keeping his parents company and making them laugh. He cared for his parents as their health failed, never complaining. He looked at is as an honor to care for them and often slept at their house, and always advocated strongly for their care and wellbeing.

However, of all the jobs and passions Paul had in his life, the one he excelled at the most was that of father. He truly was the most amazing dad to Mary. His world revolved around her and she knew it. During long graveyard shifts, Paul would gather scrap metal parts and make toys by welding the parts together to bring home to Mary. He brought her with him to the strike lines, sat as a room parent in her kindergarten and first grade classrooms, and attended every major school event of her life. When Mary was four years old, she made him a necktie for Father’s Day and he continued to wear that tie every year on Father’s Day and also at monumental moments in her life like her graduations and her wedding. They went on fishing trips together that they would fondly reminisce about, specifically the one where Paul forgot his extra reel, lost the one he had in the water, and Mary had to catch both of their fishing limits. Together they traveled the world going to places like England, Italy, and Greece. The trip that Mary and Paul took together to Greece in 2019, where they visited the family villages, was a trip that the two talked about often. They also visited 30 US states together, driving through many of them in Mary’s yellow VW Bug. He was able to experience every major milestone of Mary’s life with her: graduating from undergrad and law school, walking her down the aisle at her wedding, dancing to “In My Life” by the Beatles as their father daughter dance, and seeing Mary become a mother. Mary already misses the daily 7:30am “Morning Princess” texts that he would send without fail. He was a once in millennium kind of dad and has always been Mary’s hero and best friend.

Earlier this year, Paul become a Papou to his granddaughter, Sophia. Sophia truly was the newest love of his life and his whole face would light up when he’d see her. He was the first person to hold her after her parents when she was born and fondly referred to her as his Kotoula (little chicken in Greek). We know that he will be her guardian angel who fiercely protects and loves her as he has Mary her whole life.

Paul is survived by his daughter, Mary (Mitch) Edmonds and his beautiful four-month-old granddaughter, Sophia. He is also survived by his Aunt Georgia Hardy, nieces and nephews, cousins, sister Mary, and many friends and coworkers who made a positive impact on his life. He is preceded in death by his wife, Jeanne, his parents Harry and Betty Royal, grandparents Haralambos and Mary (Roilos) Royal, and Theodoros and Marigo Giannakopoulos (Gianelos), and in-laws Floyd and Adelle Evans.

A viewing will be held Wednesday, October 23, 2024 from 6-8pm at Holy Trinity Cathedral with a Trisagion at 7pm. Funeral services will be held Thursday, October 24, 2024 at 11:30am at Holy Trinity Cathedral, 279 South 300 West, Salt Lake City. Interment will be at the Mount Olivet Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Paul often talked about how he admired the work they did for families in need.

We love you Dad, you are already so missed and will be forever loved and cherished.
May his memory be eternal!