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Roy Hess, who during his 42 years of covering sports in the Rio Grande Valley served as sports editor for The Brownsville Herald, The Harlingen Valley Morning Star and The McAllen Monitor, has passed. He had been battling diabetes for years.

"We have lost a gentle giant," said Max Maxwell, dean on the RGV sportswriters. "He was the voice of sports in the Valley. You never heard anyone criticize Roy. He was a class act who wasn't a gotcha journalist. He had no other agenda than to promote local athletes. He told a straight story with an objectivity that you don't see these days. He truly loved his work. His idea of a night on the town was covering a sports event. I'm sure a lot of people are feeling pain today for this generous soul."

The Rio Grande Valley Hall of Fame inducted him into its organization in 2016. The association cited the breadth of his coverage. He was raised on the major three--football, basketball and baseball--but the UT/Austin graduate covered girls volleyball or softball with the same enthusiasm. Nobody did more for soccer than Hess who recognized at an early stage that boys soccer was the ticket to putting the Valley on the Texas athletic map.

"Delta" Dave Handelman, during his time as The Brownsville Herald sports editor, appreciated Hess's self-effacing manner. According to Handelman, Hess never wanted to be part of the story. He wasn't interested in being a personality. In his estimation, the coaches and the athletes were the personalities and he wanted the spotlight focused on them.

"I never heard Roy raise his voice nor use a bad word," recalled Handelman. "He had a soft, Texas drawl that would put a subject at ease. He wasn't attracted to controversy although he never shied away from an important issue. He respected the challenges that the coaches and athletes faced and he wanted the public to share in their struggles for success. Unlike some of my ex-fellow scribes, Roy wasn't a cheap-shot artist. It was never his intention to humiliate or embarrass anyone. I never knew his religious beliefs, but he had a deep love for humanity."

"I will miss him," said Rick Lepre, who knew Hess for more than four decades. "He gave every sport its due. A cross-country runner would receive as much publicity as a star quarterback. In his estimation competition was competition and those who emerged as stand-outs deserved recognition. If I had to characterize Roy with one word, that word would be genuine. In our interviews after the games, he wanted nothing more than the facts as well as my opinion about the outcome. He never ignored the athletes and sought their input."

"I went to Sams Stadium twice last fall to watch football games," recalled Maxwell. "Both times I sat next to Roy. He didn't like sitting in the press booth. He wanted to sit among the fans in the stands; they added context to his reporting.

"He jotted down the details of every play from the yard line to the yards gained in his own shorthand. He was meticulous in his approach to his profession. He avidly followed boxing, a passion I also shared and we would talk at length about local fighters. I knew that he was dealing with health problems, but I had no idea he was in poor physical shape. 

"He didn't give that impression as we discussed a variety of sports topics. The last time we were together I bought him a coke as he typed the first part of his story on his laptop at halftime. I don't know what the purchase of a coke means, but it seems to mean something now. He was a fine person. Especially in the sports community, we are lesser without him. It's a sad day."