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1200 North Cloverdale Road
Boise, Idaho
Arthur (Art) Royce
1933 ~ 2014
Arthur Lee Royce, 80, of Boise died on July 19, 2014 from complications due to pancreatic cancer. Art was born in Cody, WY, December 21, 1933 to Margaret E. Royce. His father, Arthur Royce and sister Elizabeth Anne were killed in a car accident shortly before his birth.
Art and his two older sisters spent summers on their grandfather's farm in Niagara, ND. When their mother remarried they moved around Wyoming with their step-father, a Presbyterian minister. In 1948 the family moved to Emmett, ID where Art graduated from high school in 1952. After one year at the University of Idaho he received greetings from Uncle Sam and spent 2 years in the army.
After leaving the service and holding several different jobs he returned to the University and received a degree in Business. It was there that he met his wife Mary Bills.
He had many occupations throughout his life. He worked in a furniture store, tire sales and as a truck driver, forest service fire marshal, police officer, etc… the list goes on. He then spent 23 years with the IRS, retired for two weeks, and had 15 years with Albertsons Inc. before retiring finally in 2000.
Art loved working around the house and always had time to help others. He and Mary loved to camp and to travel, going to Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and a cruise through the Panama Canal. Art took great joy in spending time with his family. He was a member of Masonic Lodge Oriental #60 and El Korah Shrine where he was active in the Provost Guard and Nomads units.
Art is survived by Mary, his wife of 51 years, daughter Karen, son Michael (Shammie) and granddaughters Mason, Brynn and Penelope, and his sister Emily Simpson of Roseburg, OR, as well as several nieces and nephews. His wisdom and wit will be greatly missed.
Art was preceded in death by his son Charles, his mother Margaret, father Arthur, and sisters Elizabeth Anne and Mary.
Funeral services will be held at 11am, Friday, Aug 1st, at First Presbyterian church in Boise. Any memorials can be sent to the El Korah Shrine for the Patient Travel Fund, Daughters of the Nile Foundation, First Presbyterian Church of Boise, or the charity of your choice.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
My deepest condolences to the Royce family, Art was a wonderful soul, dad, husband, and father inlaw. He helped and taught me so much about just fixing and doing your own thing. He was always there for me when I was his son inlaw, a great man. I miss his sharp wit and humor ... Many respects.
Rob Rydalch
August 1, 2014
Deepest condolences.
Cindi McKinnis
July 27, 2014
Mike and Shammie and all of your family, my deepest condolences. I'm so sorry for your loss. May wonderful memories stay in your hearts.
Cindi McKinnis
July 27, 2014
Bill's son, Michael, was my elementary student at Longfellow in Fargo, ND. He was a great student and had to have been raised by only the best loving parents. May the love he taught Michael live on through him and how he respects his family all the days of HIS life. I believe Bill will always be only a thought away and still there to guide him though changed from his earthly body to more of a butterfly. I send love and peaceful respects! Sandi Lindstrom, Eden Prairie
July 25, 2014
I was so pleased to be put in contact with Art, to meet him, to help research his ancestry - and then to find we were actually distant cousins!
Through him I met his wonderful family on numerous to Boise - and more distant cousins when Art and Mary organised a Royce gathering in Brisbane, Australia!
It was also great to meet up with Art and Mary on their several trips to the UK and most recently in Berlin.
Art was a kind, sincere and gentle man and I was fortunate to know him as a cousin and a friend and will miss him.
Whilst I cannot make the funeral I will be there in spirit that day and look forward to being with family later in August.
Alan Royce Moorhouse
July 25, 2014
Dear Mary and family,
I offer my deepest sympathy to you.
My earliest memories are of Art. He was always a great celebrity to me and my siblings. Among those early memories is one that occurred April ~11, 1951. Mother and my siblings gathered around the radio on a warm, sunny afternoon to hear the live reports that "Arthur's" plane was landing. Some years later I realized there was another Arthur (MacArthur), but it has never occurred to me that Art's arrival anywhere was anything less than a BIG event. I always appreciated his great affection for my parents, which they surely mutually held. We have been blessed by his life and his memory will rest gratefully in our hearts until the Day of Reunion.
Stanley Howard
July 25, 2014
What a wonderful family friend. Someone who I deeply admired and always appreciated his visits.
Marshall S. Howard
July 23, 2014
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Funeral services provided by:
Cloverdale Funeral Home Cemetery and Cremation - Gibson Chapel - Boise1200 North Cloverdale Road, Boise, ID 83713
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