The Dana Point Historical Society has lost a dedicated member and volunteer. Niguel Shores resident Bill Boyd died of cancer on September 29 due to complications of a melanoma discovered in August of 2007.
Bill was one of three children born to John and Martha Boyd on January 17, 1933, in Long Beach, California. He was a veteran, serving in the United States Navy after high school and subsequently attending Compton Community College and Chapman College before his lifelong career with the California Department of Motor Vehicles, from which he retired in 1996.
Bill married his college sweetheart, Barbara Weisbrod, who is now retired after thirty-eight years of teaching in the Santa Ana Unified School District. The Boyds moved to Dana Point in 1970 when they purchased and subsequently restored an original Woodruff home, residing there for the following 34 years until moving to Niguel Shores in 2004. Soon after the Boyds moved to Dana Point, their daughter Erin was born, and Bill became a dedicated father devoted to “both his ladies”.
Barbara and Bill were members of the Historical Society’s Inaugural Home Tour Committee and participated in every home tour either as members of the committee or as docents through October of 2007, when Bill was a docent in the Calle Maria gardens. Due to their generosity, the Second Annual Home tour featured The Boyds English/Tudor Revival house as the signature home of six historic Sidney Woodruff homes toured that year.
Bill attended DPHS Board Meetings, organized and cooked at the Beach Barbecues, and volunteered extensively at the DPHS Museum at the Blue Lantern and the Community House locations. Avid readers, Bill and Barbara also volunteered at the Bookstore of the Friends of the Dana Point Library and were active in the Niguel Shores Recreation Association. Bill will be remembered for his upbeat personality, cheerful attitude, and great sense of humor.
The Boyds were Founders of the Orange County Performing Arts Center and were very involved with was the Center’s support group, Founders Plus. They both served on the organization’s board, working for seven years with Summer at The Center, a two week musical theater program held each summer for at-risk teens.
The Boyds were also avid travelers, although Bill was a white-knuckle flyer who preferred cruises. With their daughter and later their son-in-law, they shared trips to over eighty countries.
To honor Bill’s wishes, his ashes were scattered at sea from the historic schooner, The Curlew, on October 17, in a private ceremony attended by family and close friends, followed by an Irish wake. If you wish to remember Bill, consider a donation to the American Cancer Society or the DPHS scholarship fund in his honor.
Author’s note: Barbara and Bill involved Keith and me in the Dana Point Historical Society, and we were next-door neighbors and longtime friends. We will miss Bill!