For Roy W. Doxey, a theologian, educator, writer and doctrinal scholar for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, life at its best was to be found in church service. And he unceasingly filled that role until his death this week at age 84.
Over the years he was a missionary, a church leader on the local level, a member of general boards and committees, a mission president, a regional representative, a patriarch, a professor at Brigham Young University, a writer of a dozen books on doctrinal subjects that were used as lesson material throughout the LDS Church, a director of correlation review for the Church and a member of the staff of the Council of the Twelve.Such a list barely touches the experiences and influences of his long and productive life and the assignments and responsibilities that repeatedly sent him to the far corners of the globe. He was also at various times a machinist apprentice, a clerk and later an economist in a federal agency in Washington, D.C., a college basketball player and a popular lecturer. He reinstituted the post-World War II Hill Cumorah Pageant in Palmyra, N.Y. The famous pageant had been closed for seven years during the wartime era.
At BYU, Doxey was a professor of religion and eventually dean of religious instruction, serving for a total of 26 years.
His lifelong devotion to his religion started in his early childhood years and just kept growing. When he departed for a church mission in Canada at age 22, he said the mission was one for which he had prepared for years.
Meticulous preparation became a Doxey hallmark. He was known as a stickler for detail, an attribute that served him well in his assignment as director of Church Correlation Review, checking all lesson manuals, handbooks, church magazines and other materials for doctrinal, historical and factual accuracy.
He had a reputation for being businesslike and efficient, but his stern visage only covered the surface of a tender love for his fellow human beings and a delightful dry wit.
Those who have read his books, used his lesson manuals or listened to him teach, have had their lives touched by his deep learning. That is a legacy that will continue to bear fruit for generations.