The Gift of Royal

A week after his sudden death, hundreds of well wishers turned out on Saturday in Decatur, Georgia, to bid our friend Royal Marshall a final farewell.

It was a heart wrenching scene as Royal's widow and his two young children approached his casket in the Ray of Hope Church where Royal had touched the hearts of so many.

But the tears turned to laughter later on, as friends and family paid tribute to his life.

"I can't remember one day he was in a bad mood," said Neal Boortz, who choked up as he said that Royal "was supposed to come to my services."

Boortz said too much of the last week had focused on Royal's time working for WSB in Atlanta, when he said that Marshall deserved to be remembered for his devotion to his family and friends.

"He was just fantastic to his family, but he was terrible off the tee," Boortz said to giggles.

Burrell Ellis, the CEO of DeKalb County, saluted his fellow church parishioner and told a story about how Royal started off an interview on "The Royal Treatment" radio show years ago with some easy questions, followed by some easy phone calls as well.

"What is this, all your relatives calling in?" Royal said as he tightened the screws on Ellis.

"I've got Burrell Ellis here," Ellis recalled Royal saying to his listeners.

"I'm going to hold him; you hit him," said Marshall.

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Hale, the founder of the New Hope church used her eulogy to celebrate the "Gift of Royal," saying that Marshall was a "quiet but steady presence in this congregation."

"I can't tell you how many people called in the last week to say that he had made a difference in their lives."

Royal's siblings paid tribute to him, fighting back their own tears as pictures of Royal rolled on giant TV screens in the background, showing him as a baby, in grade school and on into his recent years when he became a father.

"We loved him so much and we will miss him dearly," they said, relating that their children bemoaned the loss of their "Uncle Royal."

One of Royal's oldest friends, Armen Parker, told of how he tuned in Royal's nighttime radio show from Chicago, and then called him up, and soon was on the air with his old friend.

Suddenly, Parker realized that he had just let loose with a word that wasn't regarded as acceptable by the FCC.

"A.P.," said a somewhat surprised Marshall, "you can't say that on the air."

To laughter, Parker said suddenly the phone link went "click" as Royal moved on to another caller.

The emotion of his family and friends surfaced again as Marshall's casket was taken out of the church.

As it went slowly by Neal Boortz, the man whom family members said was a father figure to Marshall, Boortz reached out and touched the casket with his left hand for one last time, for one final goodbye as Royal's tearful family filed out.

In his remembrance of Royal, Boortz had one piece of advice for those who were at the funeral ceremony:

"Be calm and carry on," echoing the advice of the British Government during World War II to its citizens.

And then Boortz gave one final nod to his late friend, "Just damn." A week after his sudden death, hundreds of well wishers turned out on Saturday in Decatur, Georgia, to bid our friend Royal Marshall a final farewell. It was a heart wrenching scene as Royal's widow and his two young children approached his casket in the Ray of Hope Church where ...