Robert Dean Boyd
Robert Dean Boyd, 76, of Kokomo, left this world behind at 7:39 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 10, at Community Howard Regional Health in Kokomo.
He was born on Jan. 26, 1944, in Elwood, to Donivan Eugene “Gene” Boyd and Betty Jane (Griffith) Boyd, the second of seven children. Bob played Little League baseball, was in the 4-H Club and won champion and grand champion trophies for his Hereford steer “Shorty” in 1958 and in 1960 the Corn Club Pioneer Award for highest corn yield per acre and was the auto driving champion. He graduated from Tipton High School in 1962 where he was very popular, was a star athlete winning many letters, ribbons and trophies for football and track. He was a starting varsity blocking fullback his freshman year and was team captain and All-Conference Tackle his senior year. He was also in the FFA and was a member of the Tiptonian yearbook staff.
In 1962, he bought a fuel-injected 1958 Corvette and began his lifelong love affair with them, having two more Corvettes in subsequent years. After high school, he started working at Delco Radio as an apprentice tool and die maker where he met his co-worker, friend, and fellow Corvette owner Larry Ball. They shot skeet at the Izaak Walton League and hunted pheasant together in Grand Island, Nebraska. On Feb. 8, 1966, while on his way home from Lorentson Manufacturing Company in Kokomo, where he was also employed, Bob was involved in a near fatal car accident in his 1964 Corvette. After an extended hospital stay and brain surgery, he returned to work and continued to live with the aftereffects of his injuries for the remainder of his life.
Before and after his wreck, he was an avid pool and snooker player and played in the Miller Lite World Series of Tavern Pool for several years in the early 1980s. Bob loved music and knew all the words and could sing along to almost any song, and also loved to dance. He particularly enjoyed The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson, Hogan’s Heroes, and Green Acres on TV. His favorite movie stars were Jackie Gleason and Marilyn Monroe. He enjoyed the comedy of the Smothers Brothers and Jonathan Winters. He liked to quote baseball great Dizzy Dean and say “It ain’t braggin’ if you done it.” He also enjoyed reciting the poem “Abou Ben Adhem” by Leigh Hunt, just so he could get by with saying “A boob in autumn” in the classroom.
On Jan. 26, 1970, he married his first wife Stephanie Ellen Holtsclaw, the mother of his son, Roman. On Oct. 20, 1979, he married his second wife Carol. Bob and Carol lived in Winamac, until 1983 when they moved to Fairfield, Idaho.
Bob raised sheep and chickens, kept bees, panned for gold, shoveled mountains of snow, cut lots of firewood for wintertime, and spent time with “Aussie,” his Australian shepherd. In 1995, Bob and Carol returned to Winamac where they continued sharing almost 38 years of marriage before her passing on Aug. 23, 2017.
He is survived by his son Roman Boyd of Kokomo; siblings James [Donna] Boyd of Kokomo, Donna [Marion] Richard of Louisville, Kentucky, Linda [John] Tragesser, David Boyd and Emily Wilson, all of Tipton; sister-in-law Carla Boyd of Tipton; stepmother Lenora Boyd of Tipton; 14 nieces/nephews; 29 grandnieces/nephews; two great-grandnieces/nephews; stepchildren: Mark [Betty] Copeland of Winamac, (granddaughters: Jessica of Texas and Melissa of Indiana), Jeff [Cheryl] Copeland of Tetonia, Idaho, (granddaughters: Maggie and Jodi with two great-grandchildren all of Idaho), Gina [Doug] Edwards of Eugene, Oregon, (grandsons: Leonard of California and Jacob of Texas with five great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren), Adam Copeland of Rochester, and Barbara Webster (grandsons Sam and Travis) all of Boise, Idaho.
He was preceded in death by his parents; brother Lex; second wife Carol S. (Copeland) Boyd; and co-worker and close friend Larry D. Ball.
If you knew Bob and would like to honor his memory, think of him while drinking a cup of coffee, eating a piece of carrot cake, playing a game of pool, making a smart-aleck comment, listening to any song by Harry Chapin, checking the Dow-Jones Industrial Average or GM stock price or by planting a tree or sunflowers, which he loved.
In accordance with his final wishes, Bob is being cremated. Due to COVID-19 no services are planned at this time.
(Pulaski County Journal — Jan. 27, 2021)