Lee Roy Pollard of Sheffield, Alabama, was born October 23, 1941 in Wayne, Ohio and passed away Saturday, June 13, 2020, peacefully at home. He graduated from Montgomery Local High School and then from Ohio State University in 1964 with a double major in Agronomy and Animal Science.
He began his working career with Swift and Company in their plant food division and then started his own direct-to-farmer fertilizer sales business in the Wayne area. Concurrently, he was recognized for helping Young Future Farmers and for using his own farm for research while row cropping.
In 1971, the family moved to a farm in Macon, Mississippi, where they resided for eight years. Next, the family moved to Cherokee, Alabama where they started an U-pick fruit business and grew wheat and soybeans. After 25 years of farming, Lee began a new career in remodeling and carpentry. At various times he employed his daughters and also many young men who were trying to find their way in life and in the job market. In his later years, his love for work and nature kept him busy in woodworking and gardening. His advanced carpentry skills were especially useful in the restoration of several local historic homes to include Barton Hall, the Rorex House, and the Price home.
Throughout the years he was a Sunday school teacher, deacon, volunteer fireman, and member of the Cherokee Lions Club. More recently, he was an active member of Christ Chapel where he served as a greeter, Helps minister, lay pastor, and altar ministry worker. He had a love for the nations and his home was open to a large number of international students and missionaries over the years. He loved to travel and do mission work. Another great passion was music; he was an active member of The Shoals Praise Choir.
He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Janet; daughters, Dawn (Jeff) Mitchell of Dothan, Dana (Derrick) Wallace of Florence, Heidi (Robert) Springfield of Livingston, Texas; and bonus daughter Monica (Scot) Farris and children Emily, Stephen, Jake, and Luke of Muscle Shoals. They have 13 grandchildren: Ben, Luke, and Olivia Mitchell; Sara Pifer; Hannah Hester; Josiah, Harmony, Caroline, and Allie Wallace; Emalee, Abigail, Claire, and John Springfield; along with six great grandchildren, Calvin, Mazzy, and Cooper Mitchell; Beckett and Keller Pifer; and Emma Wallace.
Visitation will be at Christ Chapel, 3051 Cloverdale Road, Florence, Alabama on Monday, June 15, 2020, from noon until 2 p.m. with the funeral officiated by Bobby Gourley immediately following. Interment will be in Colbert Memorial Gardens.
Memorials can be made to Shoals Dream Center, 2950 Cloverdale Road, Florence, Alabama 35633 (www.shoalsdreamcenter.com).
Arrangements were entrusted to Spry Williams Funeral Home (www.sprywilliams.com).
