Ajit Roy

Ajit Kumar Roy, age 67 of North Little Rock, transitioned to the everlasting arms of his Heavenly Father on September, 17, 2021.  He was born March 2, 1954 in Katawa, Bengal, India to Sachilal Roy and Gouri (Karmaker) Roy.  He was a 5th generation goldsmith who dedicated his life to creating beautiful jewelry.  Ajit immigrated to Santa Rosa, California in 1982 to start his own jewelry line as Natural Jewelry.  In 2002 he moved to North Little Rock, rebranded as Ajit Roy Designs and took his jewelry making to a whole new level of exquisite designs.  He was thrilled to have one of his most recent earring designs be selected as a finalist in the 2021 Jewelers’ Choice Awards.

Ajit was a star vendor at various International Gem & Jewelry shows across the United States and was sought out for his unique jewelry designs.  Ajit treasured the many friendships he developed while doing the shows.  He especially loved taking on the role of elder brother and advisor to help others grow their businesses.  Ajit truly enjoyed getting to know his customers and the many people who stopped to admire his designs.  He considered everyone he met a friend and was genuinely curious about people.

Ajit also loved to plant things.  He tried watermelons, roses, strawberries and tomatoes.  He wasn’t successful until he planted fruit trees.  He had a bountiful harvest of plums, apples and peaches this year.  He was so proud when a neighbor who is a chef wanted some of his apples to create a special offering at her restaurant. He also got a kick out of neighbors stopping to admire his fruits and sharing some with them, although, he did not like sharing his fruit with the squirrels.

He was preceded in death by his parents and mother-in-law Beverly Fletcher of North Little Rock.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 19 years, Margaret Ellen (Ellie) Fletcher Roy (The Monkey, Pi and Yara), Rachel Fletcher (Anthony Gabor), Tammy Ellis and Jacob Ellis (Melissa & Logan) all of North Little Rock.

Titu (Ajit’s familiar name) will be greatly missed by family members Deepu Roy, Alo Karmakar (Narayan), Krishna Roy, Samar Roy (Anita and Payal), Sandhya Roy and Anirban Karmakar (Jonali and Ushika) all of Kolkata, Bengal, India.  As well as by Ekata Saha (Avishek, Aditya & Raina) of Charlotte, North Carolina.

Ellie is so very grateful to all of Ajit’s good friends near and far, many of whom he called sister and brother, who gave encouragement, offered love and care, and prayed earnestly for him during his 57 days in the hospital.

Please consider making a loan (as small as $25) to an entrepreneur at Kiva.org.  Ajit loved that he could be a part of helping another small business owner to follow their dream.  Ajit and Ellie have made 49 loans in 25 countries and as the current loans are repaid the funds will be loaned again.

Attendees are respectfully requested to wear colorful attire to celebrate Ajit’s love of colored stones.

Memorial Service will be held at Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home and the family will livestream on-line (contact family to find out how to access livestream) on Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 10 AM. Family will receive visitors on Tuesday, October 5, 2021 from 5-7 PM also at Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home. Access link to livestream here: https://ajitroydesigns.com/pages/memorial-service

A private inurnment will occur at a later date in Kolkata, India.