William E. (Bill) Boyd, 98, Santa Barbara, Calif., passed away March 30, 2021, in Goleta, Calif.
He was born Aug. 6, 1922 in Auxvasse to the late Frank and Ruth Boyd, whose families had settled in the area in the early 1800s.
Burial services will be held at the Goleta Cemetery in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Friday, May 21, at 2 p.m.
Bill was raised on the family farm, enlisted in the Army Air Corps in 1942, trained in the U.S., and arrived in England just before D-Day. He served as a bombardier in a B-17, flew 17 missions over Germany, and was shot down on his 18th mission on July 21, 1944. Bill spent the remainder of the war in Stalag Luft I in northern Germany. He received a Purple Heart due to taking flak in his right shoulder.
After liberation, Bill attended Iowa State University, Colorado University, and graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in business administration in 1949. He took a sales position for Mex-R-Co Refractories, subsequently purchased by Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation. He was transferred to Indianapolis, Ind. where he met Marion Campbell. They were married in October of 1953. Bill was transferred to Mexico in 1959, where the family lived until he was transferred to corporate headquarters in Oakland, Calif. in 1973. He and his family settled in Moraga.
National Refractories spun off from Kaiser Aluminum, and Bill served as vice president for five years until he retired, after which he served as a consultant until the age of 80. After retirement, Bill and Marion moved to Santa Barbara, Calif. to be nearer to their daughter, Libby, and her family.
Due to his wartime injury Bill learned to play golf left-handed, an activity he enjoyed until age 91, when he stopped in order to stay with and care for his beloved wife.
Bill was an elder in the Presbyterian Church, taught Sunday school, was a Boy Scout leader, a Shriner, a Rotarian, and tirelessly served in many other capacities. He always remembered one’s name, and he had a gracious word and a warm smile for everyone. He cared for his beloved wife until his dying day. He will be missed by all who knew him.
Survivors include his wife, Marion (Molly); five children, William E. (Ed) Boyd, Jr., Gregory, Andrew, Roderick, and Elizabeth (Libby) McLaughlin; eight grandchildren; one great-granddaughter, and a great-grandson due, in June.
He was preceded in death by his parents; and four siblings, Kathryn Boyd McCollum, Helen Boyd Schlanker, Tom Boyd, and Frank Boyd, Jr.
