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.