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Cache Valley business, athletics notable Ralph Roylance dies

Ralph Roylance walks down one of the isles at Smithfield Implement in this 2014 file photo.
Eli Lucero
/
The Herald Journal
Ralph Roylance walks down one of the isles at Smithfield Implement in this 2014 file photo.

Ralph Roylance, one of Cache Valley’s best known businessmen who also distinguished himself as a World War II seaman and lifelong standout athlete, died on Monday at age 96.

Roylance owned Smithfield Implement, a store he began managing for his parents in the 1950s and converted from a hardware and farm-equipment business into a classic general store. Though he’d stepped back from management in recent years, he maintained an office in the store and still spent time there.

Roylance’s athletic achievements have been chronicled numerous times on the pages of The Herald Journal. He not only excelled in high school and college sports — enough to earn him induction in the Utah State University and Utah sports halls of fame — he continued to compete into midlife and well past retirement, most notably as a Smithfield Blue Sox pitcher and then as a medal-winning senior ski racer. Read the rest of the story on HJnews.com.

This story is made possible thanks to a community reporting partnership between The Herald Journal and Utah Public Radio.