Royal Francis Wertz, Jr.

Royal Francis Wertz, Jr. , 77, of Pittsburg, TX passed away on January  10, 2020 after a battle with cancer.  He was born May 7, 1942 in Amarillo, Texas to the parents of Dr. Royal Francis Wertz & Vera Cramer Wertz.  Royal graduated from Kemper Military Academy in Booneville, Missouri in 1959 and then the University of Colorado Boulder in 1964. 

He went on to Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1965, then served his country as a lieutenant in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War where he commanded a swift boat in three tours of duty. After his last tour, he returned to his home in Amarillo, established a potato produce company, and acquired his Texas real estate license. In 1971 he married Pittsburg native Barbara Holman and they had his three surviving children.

Royal is survived by son Clayton Wertz (Jenna) of Dallas, daughter Elizabeth VanGoor (Tom) of Dallas, and son Reed Wertz of Pittsburg. He is survived by 5 grandchildren: Truitt and Tucker Wertz; Spencer, William and Harper VanGoor.  He is also survived by his two sisters Barbara (Jack) Barrett of Taos, New Mexico and Mary (Scott) Brown of Norman, Oklahoma.  

After earning a furniture manufacturing diploma at North Carolina State in 1973, Royal located his young family to nearby Mount Pleasant where he managed Pittsburg’s Holman Manufacturing Company for 21 years. After briefly owning and operating poultry houses, he sold real estate locally with his longtime companion Brenda Barnwell until his retirement. 

Royal was an active member of the local Kiwanis Club and American Legion. Royal learned to fly fish as a young boy in the trout waters of Wyoming, he pursued this hobby at every opportunity. He was an avid outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting with friends. The last two dove seasons were extra special as his grandsons were able to join him.  Perhaps he was proudest of training and finishing his first marathon, which led to a passion for running.  Royal completed over 20 marathons.  

Memorial Service will be held at the United Methodist Church of Pittsburg, Texas on Saturday, January 25th at 10:30am. Formal interment will be at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery for Veterans at a later date.