Obituary of Gene M. Boyd

Gene Milton Boyd from Strasburg, Colorado, passed away on Saturday, February 4, 2023 - just three days past his 92nd birthday. Gene was born on February 1, 1931, in Brownington, Missouri, to John Lee Boyd and Minnie Emma Elizabeth Boyd. He was the 6th of 7 children. Gene grew up on a small farm in the hills of Northwestern Missouri. His family was dirt poor, but he didn’t know it at the time. Gene’s family lived off the land. They grew a big garden and raised milk cows, pigs, and chickens. The only things they purchased from the store were flour, sugar, and salt. All of their farming was done with teams of horses and mules, and they didn’t have electricity or indoor plumbing. Gene spent his childhood summers barefoot feeding livestock, gathering eggs, and pulling weeds in the garden. On Saturdays, when his folks went to town to sell milk and cream, Gene cleaned neighbor’s chicken houses. He earned between $1.50 and $1.75 per chicken house, which was a lot of money for a kid in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Gene went to school in a one-room schoolhouse. He finished 8th grade but never went to high school. Instead, he worked. During his teen years, Gene farmed with horses, hauled water to threshing crews, and did road construction work. He wanted to join the military, but his older brother begged him not to, so Gene listened. Gene was fiercely patriotic and always regretted not serving. Gene enjoyed living in Missouri, but in the late 1940s, it was hard to find a decent-paying job there, so he knew he needed to move. When he heard about work at a sugar beet factory in Brighton, Colorado, he hitched a ride with his friend Harold in his 1941 Chevy car and headed to Colorado. Gene was only 17 years old at the time. He left home with just the clothes on his back. Unfortunately, when Gene got to Colorado, the factory jobs were gone. Thankfully though, he heard about a man named John Schmidt who needed short-term help hauling wheat. Gene needed work, so he headed south of Strasburg to take the temporary job. John liked Gene, so after wheat hauling he hired him to be a full-time farmhand. Gene lived in the one-room bunkhouse on John’s place. In 1951, Gene married a girl who lived just up the road - Donna (Hanlon) Boyd. Together, they lived a very simple life. Their small house had electricity but no indoor plumbing. Donna cooked everything from scratch and sewed dresses from flour sacks. The couple had 2 daughters, Linda and Beverly. Their first son, Steven, died shortly after birth. Gene continued to work as a farmhand until 1954 when the severe drought forced him to look for work off the farm. He found a carpentry job in Denver, so the family moved north of Strasburg. In 1959, John called Gene to see if he would like to come back and help on the farm again. Gene loved farming, so he agreed and moved back south of Strasburg to a piece of land he would live on for the rest of his life. There, Gene and Donna had another son, Mark. Gene continued to work for John until 1972 when he retired. At that time, Gene took over the farm and ran it until his own retirement in 1996. Gene found great joy in working and could often be found whistling while he worked. After retirement, Gene enjoyed driving his Chevrolet pickups, bowling, restoring old tractors and attending tractor pulls. Gene, affectionately known as Papa by his family, is survived by his wife of 71 years, Donna, children Linda Hall, Beverly Quall and Mark Boyd, 8 grandchildren, and 15 great grandchildren. Gene was preceded in death by his son Steven Boyd, parents, and six siblings: Johnny, Della Maye, Opal, Charlie, Roy, and Owen. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Jude's. Donate online at stjude.org, by phone (800)822-6344, or donate by mail to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105.