Remembering Roy Mitchell

Growing up in Willow Springs in the 1950s and 1960s left me with memories of the freedom a small child could experience in a small town in a more innocent time, with a feeling of safety that sadly is no longer there. As kids, my brothers and sisters and I were allowed to walk unaccompanied in our immediate neighborhood, and the destination we most often requested was “The Little Green Store,” otherwise known as Mitchell’s Grocery. The building for this store, a small square-plastered building painted light green, was our Mecca for summer treats. In my opinion, the most sought-after was the orange push-up, basically a cardboard tube filled with orange sherbet ice cream. You pushed the sherbet out of the tube with a stick on the bottom, eating the ice cream as it popped out the top of the tube. The Little Green Store was just a street over from the First Baptist Church and about three blocks from where I lived.

 

Roy Albert Mitchell, the owner, a kindly fellow, and a long-time resident of Willow Springs, was tolerant of us urchins. He genuinely liked kids. Roy was born here in 1893. His parents arrived a few years earlier to find jobs associated with the new Current River Railroad line being finished. Attending Willow Springs Schools, Roy became close friends with Earl Shipley, who would become known nationally for his work as a circus clown. Roy and Earl left Willow Springs together in their late teens to seek their fortune. The world was at war, but the United States did not enter World War I until 1917. 

 

Earl Shipley was the first man in Howell County to join the American Expeditionary Force, though he was touring in North Dakota with the circus. In 1919, Earl Shipley returned to circus life after his discharge from the Army. Roy was not drafted, likely because of his lungs, and by the time of our entry into the war, he was married with a new baby.

 

Roy married Miss Theodosia Rader in Jasper, Missouri, in 1916 and took up farming for a short time in Barton County, returning to Willow Springs. The couple raised four girls and a son. Theodosia was a prominent Willow Springs High School teacher, attending Missouri University, Columbia for her training. She passed away from tuberculosis complications in 1942. Roy also spent time at the Missouri State Sanatorium, suffering from the same disease. 

 

In 1947, Roy Mitchell married Virgie Mae Rees, and the couple were blessed with three boys.

 

Though they took different life pathways, Earl Shipley and Roy Mitchell remained lifelong friends. 

 

Roy Mitchell’s life in Howell County was about community service. He was an avid booster of the Willow Springs Bears, founding and serving on the twelve-member board of the Booster Club and supporting high school athletics. 

 

He was instrumental in 1946 in creating Booster Field on the east side of Willow Springs to alleviate the use of the football field at Palenske Stadium, which was wearing out the sod. He then organized Junior League boys and girls softball and baseball teams to play on the new field.

 

In the 1940s, Mrs. Mumford often called on Roy to speak to her citizenship class about county government.

 

He was a charter member of the First Christian Church in Willow Springs. Roy served as Willow Springs Police Judge for twenty-five years, hearing all misdemeanor and felony cases before turning them over to county jurisdiction. He also performed marriages. In 1955, Roy made the West Plains Quill, which reported, “Roy Mitchell, city police judge (also known as justice of the peace) left his car too long in a parking zone and was given a ticket by the city police. He paid the usual fine of $3.50, including costs.” In 1955 Roy narrowly defeated Doc Hicks in a bid for a police judge. Hicks eventually became a police judge following Mitchell’s death.

 

In addition to his grocery store, Roy supplied additional services to the community as a notary public and real estate agent. He served as appointed administrator for the Howell County probate court. My mother recalled purchasing her first driver’s license from Roy in the days before driver testing. Roy maintained an office at 110 East Main Street for decades and offered printing services under the name Quality Printing. Mitchell’s name appears on many legal documents from this period. Roy also sold magazine subscriptions.

 

Several years ago, I viewed some samples of Roy’s printing work, a snapshot of the community and its activities. Younger readers will not recall the city license – a small window sticker - required to drive in the city limits of Willow Springs. Roy did that and other printing jobs for the city.

 

Roy died in 1971 and is buried in the Willow Springs City Cemetery. His wife Virgie died four years later and is buried beside him.