Looks like Roy settled down after all, but not before breaking a few hearts.
He married Mildred Faye Gallaway in Saline, AR on November 25, 1950 and left her when an infant was born. Mildred surrendered the child into adoption in April 1951.
Roy married Betty Ann Grimes in 1958 and they had a son, Michael Jay Hornbeck born on April 5, 1960. Roy left Betty and Michael in 1962 and turns up again in vital records married to Anna Pearl Rhodes on January 15, 1964 somewhere in Texas and Roger Preston Hornbeck was born to them on August 30, 1964. He turns up in Missouri in 1965 as the owner of Mary's Diner.
Anna had a divorce granted by the state of Texas on grounds of spousal abandonment in 1971. Roy married this Mary and together they had children: Frank Hornbeck of Kent, WA; Roy Wayne Hornbeck of Fort Worth, Texas; and Caroline Hornbeck Kenzie, a counselor in Onalaska, WA.
Roy died in St. Luke's Hospital, Chesterfield, Missouri, leaving a widow: Mary Hornbeck of Foley, Missouri.
I found Anna's child; Roger and I've contacted him. He was pleasant about it, so now I feel I am able to get to know this man that is my uncle. I've also found and contacted Frank Hornbeck in Kent, WA. He was less than happy to hear the “persistent rumors” of his father having children before his marriage to his mother. He requested that I leave the family alone and that the diner is not for sale. I honestly did not care about that. I just was curious. I feel I learned what I was looking for. I wanted to get a feel of who my grandfather was. I've learned that he's a bit of a womanizer, is a damn good cook and manager, did well enough to be able to afford to leave a trust to his children with Mary and that he maintained close ties with his siblings; all 13 of them.
Speaking of his siblings, his twin sisters; Pauline and Irene, claims that Roy is not the man that fathered the first three children, but rather, a brother that used his name as an alias. I was able to poke holes into that theory by the fact that Leo is proven to have been a resident of Poplar Bluff during the times Roy was with Betty and then with Anna. There is just no way he could have been in two places at one time... and even if it was, then that begs the question: Where was the actual Roy really from 1958-1965? That's a pretty big chunk of time to not even show up on a record. I will be able to refute the claim that it isn't Roy with these genealogical records I collected.
And there's also the fact that even if in the remote chance Pauline and Irene are right about Leo being my father's actual biological father, I'd still be following the right bloodline of the Hornbecks. Their ancestors are also my ancestors.
I won't bother even trying to find the child given up for adoption, however, this is why I am putting the names and dates up, in case that person happens to do a search. I don't know if that 1951 baby was a boy or girl.
I feel satisfied that I found all the information that I possibly could regarding my biological grandfather and that I have proven without a doubt my father and I are his offspring, therefore my line is through the Hornbecks. So that is the line I will trace. I'm no longer angry that my grandfather never sent a card or anything all those years. That's just how it was. I'll never get to talk to him because he's been dead since 1996. I missed my chance.
There's only one thing I wish I could have found: a photo. Given the chilly reception I received from the family, that probably won't ever happen.
