Gary Eugene Boyd 1941-2008

He died early this morning. His heart failed, they shocked him and gave him medicine but once the medicine wore off, he coded again. He had been unresponsive for some time before this. He was unable to breathe on his own, and once he was taken off of the respirator, he didn’t even take his second breath. His wife released my dad from his suffering to go be with Jesus, where there is no pain or suffering. I am happy for this peace he has now. Caleb said he wasn't sad because he knew Grandpa was having a party in heaven with Jesus.

Dad was loved by his wife, whom he has been married to for the last 5 years. She saw his heart and enjoyed being with him.

My dad was born to cousins during WWII, left in an orphanage in Nebraska until he was 2, then adopted by evil people. He had a damaging, to put it in vague terms, childhood. He was acquainted with suffering, but he also came to know Christ. To know where he came from, you can see how Christ worked in his life.

Growing up, my most vivid memory of my dad was his absence. Although along the road there were some moments.

As a young child I remember my dad singing in a barber-shop quartet. He loved to sing bass, as low as he possibly could. He would sing strains and pieces of songs. On the occasion when he would come into my room at night, I’d ask him to sing “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you, all the days of your life...” He’d sing it a few times. We sang together in church once, I’m not sure how old I was. 10? I’m thinking it may have been, “They will know we are Christians by our love”.

My dad could give the best bear hugs. I knew he loved me as a child because of those hugs. I give those hugs to my boys, who eat them up and can't wait to squeeze the air out of me!

On Sundays, my dad would crank up the Gaithers as he made pancakes, the other Sunday morning rituals don’t bear mentioning.

He loved apricots fresh and ripe from the backyard tree. I remember him cutting up cantaloupe and later on lots of canned peaches.

We enjoyed stolen moments with the TV on occasional weekends where we'd watch shows like Barnaby Jones, Rockford files, Quincy, and Star Trek. As a family, we did watch Star Trek The Next Generation, possibly the only sanctioned TV outside of the Olympics. We’d watch that Saturday nights and eat air-popped popcorn with stove melted butter.

My dad spent much of his at-home-time enjoying sci-fi novels, in the living room on the couch. I remember this large book of ‘The Hobbit’ he’d read to us. It had pictures, plastic overlays.
A couple of times he read books after dinner. I remember a couple missionary stories.

When I was 14 my dad gave me 3 pairs of cloisonné earrings, and when I was 18 he gave everyone in the family scarfs.

I lived alone with my dad for about 5 months in 1990. We didn’t see each other often, but he left a sticky note on my door that said “I love you”. He made turkey burgers with frozen mixed vegetables, the kind with lima beans:-0 served with a side of BBQ sauce. Did I mention this was every meal he ate at home. Perhaps breakfast was different, I don’t remember that.

Whenever I said goodbye to my dad, as an adult, he’d always say, “Love you kiddo”. I love you too dad.