ROYCE, Stephen W.

ROYCE, Stephen Wheeler (1921-1972), physician (1942 graduate of Princeton; 1945 graduate of Harvard Medical School) and very close friend of Carey Stanton, who committed suicide on August 2, 1972. His death so upset Carey Stanton, it served as the catalyst for Stanton, an alcoholic, to get sober. Royce was 51.

• Stephen W. Royce, Jr., M.D. Memorial Award was established by the American Medical Athletic Association in his honor;
• Stephen W. Royce, M.D., Teaching Fellow in Pediatrics was established at Harvard Medical School.

Steve Royce and Carey Stanton traveled to Puerto Vallarta together in late 1959. It was at a bar on the beach that they met Henry Duffield, who was trying to teach himself to walk with heavy steel leg braces after suffering polio. Stanton and Royce, as physicians, convinced Duffield, 38, to go to Warm Springs, Georgia for rehabilitation, which Duffield did. When he was released, he was invited to Santa Cruz Island, where Edwin L. Stanton offered him a job on September 19, 1960 as ranch manager. Duffield stayed for 26 years.

Steve Wheeler Royce (1921-1972 = [1949] Polly C. Mosley (1929-2005)

• Kim Moseley Royce (b. 1950)

= [1965] Jane M. Haughton (1920-1968)

Royce's namesake father (1892-1977) owned the Huntington Hotel of Pasadena, which he sold in 1954 to the Sheraton Corporation. It was renamed the Huntington Sheraton. Mr. Royce Sr. had entered the hotel business in 1921 as manager of the Hotel Vista de Arroyo, Pasadena, California, which position he held until 1924 when he was appointed managing director of the Huntington Hotel, Pasadena. He was also managing director of the Coronado Hotel, Coronado, California, from 1934 to 1938; the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco, California, from 1939 to 1945; and the Royal Hawaiian and Moana Hotels, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, since 1948. President of the Huntington Hotel Company, Ltd.; director of the First Trust and Savings Bank of Pasadena and Pasadena Tournament of Roses; trustee of Santa Barbara Boys School.

In the News~

April 23, 1974 [Princeton Alumni Weekley]: “Steve Royce died suddenly on Wednesday, Aug. 2, 1972 in Laguna Beach, Cal. At Princeton, to those of us who were less advantaged, Steve seemed to be both especially gifted and especially privileged. Whatever are the complicated processes that form character, they combined to endow Steve with a vigorous mind in a muscular body and a high degree of coordination, independence, and self-sufficiency. Making the most of inherited athletic abilities, Steve came to excel in a dozen sports. Effectively applying his quick intellect, Steve graduated from Princeton summa cum laude; with apparent ease he went on to become a distinguished pediatrician, founded the Children's Clinic in Pasadena and the Cystic Fibrosis Association in California. Despite a demanding work schedule, Steve remained an active athlete all his life. He skied, sailed (four times in the Transpacific Yacht Race), played tennis, and ran (three times in the Boston marathon). He was training for the Greek Marathon when, sadly and strangely, he died during the night. Familial ties were very strong in Steve's life. Doubtless they lent him courage even beyond his own considerable personal store. We shall miss this special person very much. Steve is survived by his first wife; two daughters, Mrs. Kim Daugherty of Laguna Beach and Mrs. Sandra McKinney of Pasadena; a son, Stephen M. Royce of Pasadena; a brother, Daniel, of Pasadena; and a sister, Mrs. Dorothy Hadden of Rancho Santa Fe.”