Captain Philip Patrick Royal, 47, of Inverness, Florida passed away unexpectedly July 18, 2016 while participating in the Key Training Center’s “Run for the Money” in Tallahassee, Florida.<\/p>\n
Phil was a devoted husband, father and sworn hero. Born in Clearwater, he was a lifelong Florida resident. Phil moved to Citrus County in 1988, where he served the community for nearly three decades as a public servant in roles including Firefighter, EMT, Paramedic and Law Enforcement Officer. He believed that maintaining and nurturing strong relationships with coworkers, the community and fellow agencies was not just a best practice, but the key to developing mutual understanding and respect between residents and first responders.<\/p>\n
Phil was first assigned to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office SWAT and Underwater Recovery Team in 1990. He was later assigned to the Patrol Division in 1994 and served as a Crime Scene Technician. Phil progressed through the ranks working as a School Resource Officer, Training Officer, Sergeant, and Lieutenant before retiring as the Captain of Professional Standards and Training Division. Most recently, Phil served as a trusted advisor to law enforcement agencies throughout the state with TASER International.<\/p>\n
He was a strong supporter of the Key Training Center and served on its Board of Directors, Phil was a 2016 candidate for Citrus County Sheriff. Current Sheriff Jeff Dawsy said of Phil, “Our community has not only lost a great servant, but a great friend to so many here in Citrus County.” Phil enjoyed outdoor activities, athletic events, and spending time with his family and friends.<\/p>\n
Left to mourn his loss and remember him with love is his wife, April Hull Royal and their daughter, Brelyn Dawn; his mother, Bonnie Royal of Clearwater; a brother, Michael Royal and his wife Susan and their children, Brett and Colette of Anna Maria Island, FL; his sister, Dana Dawn Royal O’Farrell and her husband Kenneth and their son, Nicholas of Orange Beach, AL; Father in law, John Hull and wife, Denise of Inverness; Mother in law, Jacquelyn Tarantino Dey and husband, Robert of Inverness; and their children, Tiffany Hull, her son, Austin Hooker, and fiance, Michael Holm; Christy Lynn Beck and husband Scott and their daughter, Aubry Lynn; step sister, Randi Rezutka and her daughter, Rhielynn (AKA: P-Nut). He was preceded in death by his father, Ronald Royal.<\/p>\n
A Celebration of Life Service will be conducted Monday, July 25th at 11:00 AM from the Seven Rivers Presbyterian Church with Rev. Ray Cortese officiating. Burial will follow in Hills of Rest Cemetery, Floral City. There will be a viewing on Sunday, July 24th from 4-6 PM at Cornerstone Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials are requested to the Phil Royal Memorial Fund at any Brannen Bank. The Chas E Davis Funeral Home is assisting the family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Captain Philip Patrick Royal, 47, of Inverness, Florida passed away unexpectedly July 18, 2016 while participating in the Key Training Center’s “Run for the Money” in Tallahassee, Florida. Phil was a devoted husband, father and sworn hero. Born in Clearwater, he was a lifelong Florida resident. Phil moved to Citrus County in 1988, where he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obituaries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92161"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116972,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92161\/revisions\/116972"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chasdavis.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}