Roy Yelton
Roy Yelton was known as a generous person, who believed in sharing his business success and taking care of others.
Mr. Yelton, a past Hamilton resident and the owner of Yelton’s Fine Jewelry in West Chester Twp., died Monday, Oct. 26, after an illness. He was 58.
The West Chester Twp. resident was known as a hard-worker who took charge of his own destiny. After running away from home at the age of 16, he forged his birth certificate and joined the Marines. He later served two years with the National Guard. He worked as a Butler County Sheriff before joining Champion Paper and eventually becoming head of the union there, according to his family.
While at Champion he met a jeweler and became interested in the business. For years he sold jewelry from out of the trunk of his car and home before moving to a flea market booth and eventually opening his first Yelton’s Fine Jewelry store in Hamilton on F Street in 1988.
Having grown up poor, Tina Yelton, his daughter-in-law, said he always wanted to help others. He became an ordained minister in 2004 so he could marry couples he sold rings to that couldn’t afford a church wedding.
“If you needed $50, he would have pulled it out of his wallet and gave it to you, even if he didn’t know you,” Tina said.
He was also a big participant in community fundraisers, said Barb Chappell, a friend and customer of Mr. Yelton’s store.
“You knew you could go to him. He hardly ever let anyone down on a fundraiser, and he always gave nice pieces of jewelry,” she said.
Chappell said she can remember specifically when Mr. Yelton helped her son get the diamonds for an engagement ring, “and he made a gorgeous ring. He was always so helpful.”
In February 2000, not long after opening his location at 6066 West Chester Rd., he was diagnosed with leukemia. Mr. Yelton underwent a bone marrow transplant and went into remission, Tina said. Mr. Yelton was recently in the process of opening his first free-standing store on the corner of Schultze Drive and Maulhauser Road in West Chester Twp., set to open Nov. 5.
It’s a business Mr. Yelton had said he was proud to build up and planned to leave in the hands of Tina and his son, Mark, when he and his wife of 38 years, JoAnn, retired.
“Sometimes you feel like you can’t believe you’ve established something this great,” Mr. Yelton said in a past interview with the JournalNews.
While Tina fought back tears talking about how the family has decided to go ahead with the grand opening, she said she knew “it was his lifelong dream to open a free-standing store.”
“(The store employees) know it is going to be hard to go on, but we can because we all know that that is what he would want us to do,” Tina said.
A public visitation will be held Sunday, Nov. 1 at Avance Funeral Home, 4976 Winton Rd., Fairfield, from 2-5 p.m. Funeral services will be private at the family’s request. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Patient Services in Cincinnati. Condolences may be sent to the family at avancefuneralhome.com
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.
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