In Memory of Skipper Boyd

(by Gary Wittman)

Skip Boyd and I were very good friends through much of high school and a few years beyond. After high school we both joined the Navy at different times and ended up in different divisions of the Navy. Fate had it that we were stationed close enough that we were able to see each other often.
Skip had a very strong personality and never hesitated to let you know his opinion. He had the ability to excite people's emotions which was beneficial or detrimental depending on his mood. Skip would never hesitate to help another in need. I think he always wanted to be a hero. I recall a time when a tornado had done considerable damage south of Garnett. He somehow got word of it and showed up at my house immediately to ask me to go with him to help anyone in need. There was not much we could do but Skip was more than willing to help.
At times Skip seemed dissatisfied about who he was and tended to exaggerate the things he did to make up for this feeling of inadequacy. I did not understand these low mood swings but did not let it effect our friendship. We seemed to try to draw on each other's strengths while we were maturing emotionally.
One memory of Skip that is most prominent to me is of a time when I was in boot camp. There I was this shy, country boy for the first time far from home. I was feeling homesick, lost and out of contact with any thing I knew. One evening, while I was washing my clothes by hand at the "washing stone," Skip appeared out of nowhere. He had been there longer than me and was going home in a week or two. He risked getting into trouble by leaving his barracks to wander around until he found me just to say hi. We talked a short while before he returned to his barracks. That may seem like an insignificant incident, but it did wonders for my spirits that carried me right through the rest of boot camp.
I had the urge to go to new places and see new things since I was able to walk. Skip helped to lead the way and gave me the courage to follow through with this desire. I think our friendship always remained, but after I went to Viet Nam for my second tour we lost contact with each other. I don't know if Skip achieved all he wanted in life, but if I could say one thing to Skip today it would be: Skip you were my hero.

(by Denny Davis)

Skipper and I knew each other from the time we were babies but I don't really know why we were such good friends. We shared similar backgrounds but were very different in many ways. One of the things we did have in common was the same (weird!) sense of humor. He knew exactly what to say to make me laugh - even at times and in places when I shouldn't have been laughing.

We also shared a tendency to over-dramatize and over-sentimentalize things just a little! After several of us read the "good" parts of Lady Chatterly''s Lover in study hall, Skip and I were the only ones who went back and read the entire book. Then we had a long discussion about the fact that even in the US in the 60's there were "classes" that separate people.

DennyD, SkipB

This photo on the left is my favorite one of Skip. We tried to set it up so it would look like we were having a wild party. This was before we actually went to that kind of party and the reason we were doing it is explained in the party section of the site. However I accidentally moved my hand and the "Coca-Cola" on the bottle showed in the picture. He knew I didn't like beer and after that would tease me by saying I disliked it so much I couldn't even pretend to drink it.

I never felt that most people understood Skip - even those of us who knew him well. Maybe he never really understood himself. I know that when I found out about his death I felt that I had lost a big part of my past and it took me a very long time to adjust.

Obituary from The Garnett Review

Graveside services were held 2 p.m. Thursday, April 14, 1988 for Charles "Skip" Boyd, 41 of Tumwater, WA.
He was born January 11, 1947, in Garnett, the son of Russell and Norma Ashlock Boyd.
He is survived by many relatives and friends in the Colony and Kincaid area.
Farris Feuerborn Memorial Chapel of Colony was in charge of the KS arrangements. Mills and Mills Funeral Service of Olympia, WA was in charge of the WA arrangements.

Obituary from The Olympian

Charles R. Boyd-Ashlock

Charles Russell "Skip" Boyd-Ashlock, 41, an eight-month resident of Tumwater, died Saturday, April 9, in his home.
He was born Jan. 11, 1947, to Norma Jean Ashlock and Russell Boyd, in Kansas. He was graduated from Garnett High School, Kan. in 1964. He served in the Navy and United States Naval Reserve, and was honorably discharged Nov. 30, 1976, after 12 years of service at the rank of YN2. He was employed by Bankers Life and Casualty and Farmers Insurance Group of Companies. He enjoyed taxidermy, natural history, native American history and archeology. He was a member of the Health Underwriters Association and St. Edwards Catholic Church.
Surviving are his mother, Norma Jean Ballard; his father, Russell Boyd; grandfather, Charles Ashlock; two daughters, Jessica Rene Boyd-Ashlock and Buffy Boyd-Ashlock; one son, Russell Boyd-Ashlock; two sisters, Luceille Ballard and Carla Ballard; and two brothers, Tom Ballard and Terry Ballard. All survivors live in the Garnett, Kan., area.
The funeral service for Mr. Boyd-Ashlock will take place in Kansas. Arrangements are by Mills and Mills Funeral Directors.
(note by Denny - I don't know who provided the information for this but there are a couple of errors. The graduation year being wrong could be a typo. His children - at least Russ and Buffy - never used the name Boyd-Ashlock.)

Since I did not have much contact with Skip in the years after high school I did not know a lot about what he did. I knew he had married Diana because I was at their wedding - he left for the Navy very shortly after that. I knew that he had two children, that he and Diana had divorced and then he remarried. After getting out of the Navy in 1972 he lived for a short time in Colony, KS where he operated a taxidermy shop. The daughter, Jessica Rene, mentioned in his obituary is from his second marriage.

Recently I was fortunate to get in contact with Skip's first wife, Diana. She sent me information and photos of Russ and Buffy and their children.