James Vernon Royer was born June 11, 1962 to Gary and Ruth Royer in Pierre, South Dakota. He spent most of his young life on a ranch being a typical young boy raising mischief. As he grew, he learned the ranch life and helped his father work cows. Jim learned how to drive tractors and trucks and used that knowledge to wrangle cattle and occasionally bring in small calves in the truck bed. In 1977, Gary and his family moved to Sundance, Wyoming. James continued his ranch work there and even got his own ranch dog, Sadie. Sadie went everywhere Jim went; she even waited in the back of his truck while he was in school. James graduated from Sundance High School in 1980.
James married Shelley Collins on September 4, 1982 in Belle Fourche, SD. In the spring of 1983, their family began to grow with the birth of their son, Robert. Soon after starting their family, Jim began his truck driving career. He started out hauling cattle and after their second son Marvin was born in 1984, he began hauling oil for Arnio Oil. In 1986, Jim and Shelley welcomed their third son, Kyle. It did not take long for Jim to realize his passion for driving the open roads, so shortly after their daughter Christina was born in 1990, Jim bought his own Peterbilt truck and began driving over the road with Quality Transportation. Jim drove with Quality for over 20 years and received numerous awards with his years of service with them; including the 2,500,000 Safe Driving Miles Award!
Over the years, James acquired numerous hobbies. You could often find him tinkering away in a shop. From working on his own trucks, helping his boys work on their cars, or assisting his good buddy Joel change the oil in his semi; he almost always had some oil on his hands. James loved to get a group of guys together to go up in the hills and target practice with his favorite new gun at the time. On his down time in the truck and at home, Jim loved to drown himself in a good book, often reading an entire book in a day! He had probably read every book by Louis L’amour at least once! Jim was a fan of old western music and never turned down a chance to dance. His favorite part of any family reunion (aside from all the story telling) was pulling any woman he could to the dance floor!
James passed away peacefully in his sleep on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
James’ memory will live on with his father, Gary (Donna) Royer and his wife and life partner, Shelley Royer. His sons, Robert (Megan) Royer, Marvin (Desirae) Royer, Kyle (Carin) Royer and his daughter, Christina (David) Shearer will cherish the knowledge and love James shared with them forever. His belly laughs and warmth will be remembered dearly by his grandchildren, Brody, Logan, Daxtyn, Marleigh, Branson, Lynnsie, Steffenie, Kathryn, Payton, Lillee Ann, Elizabeth, and Felicity. James will also be held close in the heart of his siblings, Jeff and Sheryl, many cousins, and the numerous friends he has made along the way.
He is preceded in death by his mother, Ruth Royer.
The family would like to ask for everyone to share their favorite memory or story of James to be put in a memory book for the family. Paper will be provided at the visitation, or memories can be left on James’ obituary page located on the Kinkade website: www.kinkadefunerals.com
