F. D. “Rabbit” Royer

2004 Effingham County Sports Hall of Fame Inductee

F. D. was born March 19, 1926 in Maulton, Alabama to Ennis and Rachel Royer. He was the second of seven children and given the nickname “Rabbit”. Most people know him by his nickname.

At a very early age he developed a love and talent for sports with baseball being his favorite.

In 1937 the family moved to Meldrim. He attended Marlow Consolidated High School where he played basketball and baseball in grammar school and baseball in high school.

He played on team in Meldrim prior to entering the Army on July, 7, 1944. He served in Europe and returned on August 8, 1946. He married “Tat” his childhood sweetheart and they had two daughters, Linda and Terry.

The following years he played with several leagues including the Dixie League, Ogeechee League and Savannah River League.

Rabbit was instrumental in organizing a Meldrim team when the county church softball league was formed. He coached the men’s team that first year and many years thereafter. He worked with fund raising events to purchase lights for Meldrim ball field. The first major fund raiser was a barbecue. With donations of money, time, materials and a lot of hard work and dedication it was a huge success.

In 1968 after a long illness, Tat lost her battle with Lupus. Then in 1990 cancer took Terry’s life.

Rabbit married again and still resides in Meldrim with his wife Marion and a host of animals he has adopted and rescued. He retired form Stone Container in 1988. He is an active member of the Meldrim United Methodist Church. He has three grandchildren and three great grandchildren who call him “Pappy”. He likes to hunt a little and fish a lot.

Although he can no longer play, he still loves sports and there is nothing he enjoys more than a good ball game.