Former WC president Dr. Jim Boyd memorialized

Special to the Democrat

More than 400 family, friends and colleagues attended the memorial service for Dr. Jim Boyd, former president of Weatherford College Friday in Hilda, Texas, near Fredericksburg.

Boyd died Sept. 22, with his family at his side, in his home on the ranch that he loved in Doss, Texas. He had battled ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, for the last two years.

James (Jim) Thomas Boyd was born Nov. 6, 1939, to Sally and Stanley Boyd in Lampasas, Texas. He began his 35-year education career as a teacher, coach and later administrator in the Fredericksburg Independent School District. After receiving his Doctorate in Education, he served as professor, then chair of the Education Department, and, finally, Dean of the College of Education and Fine Arts at Tarleton State University. He served as president of Weatherford College for five-and-a-half years before his retirement in 1998.

He was the recipient of many awards honoring his teaching and leadership accomplishments, including the Tarleton State University Distinguished Teaching Award and the George H. Brownlee Memorial Leadership Award. Boyd initiated Tarleton’s “Effective School Project,” which evolved into one of the nation’s longest-running school improvement ventures. Recently, the Texas A&M Board of Regents honored Jim by renaming this program the “Dr. Jim Boyd Effective Schools Project.”

Weatherford College honored its former president by naming the Technology Building after him and wife Velada. Also, Boyd was awarded the Carlos Hartnett Award in 2003.

After retirement from his career in education, he authored the novel Companions of the Blest and the soon-to-be-published Lessons from Life. The latter chronicles his struggle with ALS and passes to his grandchildren some of the wisdom gleaned from a life well lived.

Jim was blessed by the love of his wife, Veleda, who was his best friend and companion for 46 years. In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Jeffrey Boyd, his wife, Jennifer, of Weatherford, and Chad Boyd and his wife, Amy Smith, of Burns, Oregon, as well as four grandchildren: Christian, Mariah, Thomas, and Elisabeth Rose. Also surviving are his brother, Larry Boyd and wife, Sue, of Lake Buchanan, and his sister, Patricia Taylor and her husband, Hap, of Georgetown.

For those who so desire, memorials can be made to The ALS Association; the Dr. Jim T. Boyd Leadership Scholarship at Weatherford College, Weatherford; the Sally Boyd Scholarship at Tarleton State University, Stephenville; Hill Country Memorial Hospice, or the Hilda United Methodist Church, Hilda, Texas, or to the charity of your choice.

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