Longtime Bierbaum Principal Remembered

Roy Harrell, a principal of  School for 25 years, died on Dec. 16.

The number 50 comes up often when talking about Harrell. According to the online tribute on  Funeral Home, he was an active member of St. Luke's United Methodist Church for 50 years, and an active 50-year member of the Missouri Masons’ Monette Lodge No. 558.

He had also been married to his wife, Kate, for 50 years. He and Kate have one son, Glenn, who lives in Arkansas with his wife and two children. 

 friend John Roland said Harrell was proudest of his grandchildren, Emily and Cody.

“Whenever he talked about Emily and Cody, a light lit up in his face,” Roland said.

Harrell was the past-president of the Mehlville Optimists, and gave out the Optimist Presidential Awards every month to area elementary schools.

“He was widely loved by students who had him when they were in school,” Roland said. “Any former students who had kids in the district would see him and would remember Mr. Harrell. He was a very generous man who loved life.”

Dick Smith, a friend of Harrell’s from the Optimists, said when he first heard word of Harrell’s passing that Friday morning, he had just seen an advertisement for It’s a Wonderful Life, with James Stewart.

“At the same time I heard that news, I thought to myself, old Roy Harrell, definitely one of those kind of guys, definitely touched many people's lives, and he’s got his wings for Christmas,” Smith said.