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Robert Cope Boyd |
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December 20, 1920 ~ June 26, 2015 |
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July 27, 2015 |
 Robert
Cope Boyd died recently at 94 years of age. He
was a resident of the Coeur d’Alene, Idaho area
for over 40 years, and died at his daughter’s
home in Moyie Springs, Idaho on Friday, June 26,
2015. A memorial service will be held on
Saturday, August 8 at the Mountain Springs
Church in Bonners Ferry at 11:00 a.m., with
military honors. Lt. Col. Boyd’s ashes will be
interred in the future at the Sacramento Valley
National Cemetery in Dixon, California. For more
information, please call Mountain Springs Church
or email kheberling69@gmail.com
Bob was born December 20, 1920 in Willows,
California to Robert Cope Boyd and Josephine
Feige Boyd. He had a sister, Essee, who was 5
years younger. Much of his youth was spent
helping to provide for his mother and sister
while his father intermittently disappeared due
to difficulty staying sober and getting along
with others when he wasn’t. His mother died when
he was 20 years old. He lost contact with his
father before that time.
In 1942, he was accepted into the Army Air
Corp’s Aviation Cadet program. He began training
to be a pilot and by June 1943, he left to fly
fighter planes in Casablanca and finally
Corsica. He was shot down over the Mediterranean
Sea and spent 14 months in Stalag Luft 1, a
German prisoner of war camp, only freed at the
Victory in Europe, May 1, 1945.
After the war, Bob went back to his hobby of
racing motorcycles and stock cars, and soon
married Doreene (Dolly) and had one daughter,
Sherry (last names and whereabouts are unknown).
The marriage lasted 22 months, and in 1950, Bob
married Diana Holler and three daughters, Karen,
Annette and Susan, were born to them. They were
divorced in 1955. In 1960, Bob married
Lieselottie Marie Ihrig, who was born in Fulda,
Germany. This marriage lasted 55 years, to the
day of his death. His final marriage was a long
and happy one. Bob and Lottie enjoyed hunting
and shooting together, and owned a sailboat for
many years. They traveled abroad extensively,
and also traveled the U.S. for a time in a motor
home. They loved Yellowstone National Park and
visited it nearly every fall in their later
years.
Bob was a flight instructor for the United
States Air Force and worked primarily at
Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato, California.
After retirement in 1972, he took classes in
aeronautical engineering. He built two
airplanes, one for racing, and then built an
electric car. He developed an interest in racing
electric vehicles and built an electric
motorcycle with which he held the world record
for speed for about a month. His last project
was an electric dragster.
In 2001, Bob developed colon cancer and close
friends, worried that his stories would be lost
with him, sat with him at times during
chemotherapy, and took notes about his
experiences. When he realized he would live
through the harsh treatment, he began to write
his stories down himself. From this came his
book, I Survived: Growing Up, Class 43B, World
War II, and the Middle Years, a precious memoir
many of us have read and enjoyed.
Bob is survived by his wife, Lottie Boyd of
Moyie Springs; his daughters: Karen (Walker)
Heberling, also of Moyie springs; Annette Boyd
of Corning, California; Susan Lumen and her
husband, Fred, of Feather Falls, California;
grandchildren: Casey Ramos and wife, Mary, and
their children, Daisy and Lily Alvarez; Brian
Ramos, and wife, Sonya MacDonald, and their
children, Lanai, Sofia and Susie, and Bryce
MacDonald, all of Chico, California, and Maria,
Brian’s daughter of Bonners Ferry, Idaho; Rory
Walker and wife, Cara, and their five sons,
Jacob, Tristan, Thomas, Patrick, and Noah, of
Bonners Ferry, Idaho; James ‘Wally’ Walker and
fiancee, Juliet Wells, and their daughter,
Evelyn Claire, of Ft. Bragg, California; Morgan
Boyd and partner, Phillip Manning, and their
son, Sebastian Orion, and son, Johnathan
Ahlswede of Paradise, California; Meagen
Boyd-Woznica and partner, Doug Mini, and their
daughter, Zephynie of Magalia, California; the
sons of his step-son, Brian Warf: Kyle Warf and
wife, Kelly of Atlanta, Georgia, and Neil Warf
of Portland, Oregon; and many friends who will
miss him.
He was pre-deceased by his parents, his sister
and her husband, his step-son, Brian Warf, and
all of his fighter-pilot squadron. |
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