Roy Dee Salts

Roy Dee Salts, our beloved husband, father, uncle, and friend, passed from this life at the age of 81 on June 26, 2024. Born in Piney Flats, Tennessee, on June 22, 1943, to father Paul and mother Sarah Evelyn Salts, Roy was the youngest of three brothers. Growing up in the Tri-Cities (Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol), Roy joined the United States Army in 1962, spending three months in Okinawa, Japan, He was honorably discharged in 1965. Throughout his life, he enjoyed fishing, boating, hot-rodding, go-kart racing, westerns, Elvis Presley, Country music, BBQing with family and friends, and karaoke. 

He delighted in sharing his love of singing with everyone, starting in youth choir and continuing with family and friends in the car and on the karaoke stage. Raised on a farm, Roy learned the value of hard work early on, milking cows, growing crops, and harvesting tobacco. Using those lessons as a life-long entrepreneur, Roy started multiple businesses throughout his life, including a mobile home park in Bristol, TN, a tree service (Dee's Trees), a cleaning company, and a vending company. He could fix nearly any mechanical problem and grow almost any plant; he loved driving in top-down roadster convertibles and planting flowers. 

Roy was a jack-of-all-trades, and master of most, with numerous jobs and experiences. Most of all, he loved his family and children and would always find a way to support them in life. With a giant heart, Roy was a father and brother to many others and was always willing to help anyone in need. 

Roy was preceded in death by his mother and father, Sarah Evelyn and Paul Salts, and his brothers, Ronnie and Don Salts. He is survived by his wife, Edilsa Alvarez; children - Dwayne Dee, Rongyan Salts, Roy Kevin, Hena Salts, Paul Gregory, Lisa Salts, Elizabeth Ann Bledsoe, Jorge Eugenio Fernandez, Yesenia Fernandez, Jason Carter, and Ryan Keith Salts; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces and nephews.

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