William “Roy” Floch (Cave Junction ’73)
Posted: December 23, 2025
Roy was born December 1, 1949. He passed away December 17, 2025, after a long battle with dementia. He had just turned 76 years old.
Roy grew up with four sisters and a brother in Washington state, where his father, Don, managed Fields Spring State Park. After his eighth-grade graduation, he began high school at Mater Cleri Seminary in Colbert, WA.
Roy earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, going on to earn his master’s in systemic theology from the University of Toronto in Canada. He later earned a Master of Applied Theology from the University of San Francisco.
As a student, Roy spent his summers as a fire lookout and helitack crewman on the Pomeroy RD of the Umatilla NF. He jumped at Cave Junction from 1973-76.
On October 29, 1977, he was ordained and spent the next 42 years serving as a parish priest. The many parishes he served include St. Thomas More Parish in Spokane; Sacred Heart Parish in Wilbur, WA; and three parishes on the Colville Indian Reservation in Northern Washington. Roy spent much of the 1990s as an Army chaplain, serving with the 251st Forward Support Battalion in Fort Hood, TX; the 5-20th Infantry at Camp Casey in Korea; the 23rd Support Group at Camp Humphrey in Korea; and the 299th Forward Support Battalion in Schweinfurt, Germany. He retired in 2019.
Over the course of his career, Roy presided over hundreds of baptisms, weddings, funerals, and masses. He was a kind and sympathetic confessor and spiritual director for his thousands of friends and parishioners.
