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Bruce Bartlett Boyd

Bruce Boyd Obituary

Bruce Bartlett Boyd, M.D., passed away Sept. 3 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital of cancer. Beloved husband for 50 years of the late Joan (October 2000). Dr. Boyd was a native of Indiana and practiced psychiatry in Chicago for 40 years, was an Emeritus Professor at Northwestern University Medical School, Veteran of the Korean War, and friend and trusted advisor to many. Interment Evansville, IN. Memorial service at a later date. Memorials in his memory to the Field Museum or local performing theater groups. Confirmation of information at 312-266-9292.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Chicago Tribune on Sep. 5, 2002.

Memories and Condolences
for Bruce Boyd

Sponsored by Anonymous.

21 Entries

Anonymous

September 3, 2024

Bruce is never really gone as long as there's a memory in your mind.
Hold on to memories, hold on to every moment, keep him alive. The world's greatest tragedy is those who are not remembered, cannot survive.

Lyrics from Disturbed's 'Hold On to Memories," with a personal touch.

Anonymous

September 3, 2023

Thinking of you on this date, the Anniversary of your passing, and missing you.

Anonymous

September 3, 2022

"When we lose someone we love we must learn not to live without them, but to live with the love they left behind" - Anonymous

Anonymous

September 3, 2020

Thank You!

Lucinda

September 4, 2012

It is a quiet pleasure to remember you now; your name came up at a recent cousins reunion.

September 3, 2012

On this, the 10th Anniversary of your passing, know that you are always in my prayers.

Anonymous

September 3, 2007

Although your physical absence has left a void in my life, you continue to be my strength through your guidance.

September 8, 2005

Let the soul be assured that somewhere in the universe it should rejoin its friend, and it would be content and cheerful alone for a thousand years.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Anonymous

September 3, 2004

May I be a protector to those without protection,
A leader for those who journey,
And a boat, a bridge, a passage
For those desiring the further shore.

May the pain of every living creature
Be completely cleared away.
May I be the doctor and the medicine
And may I be the nurse
For all sick beings in the world
Until everyone is healed.

Just like space
And the great elements such as earth,
May I always support the life
Of all the boundless creatures.

And until they pass away from pain,
May I also be the source of life
For all the realms of varied beings
That reach unto the ends of space.

A Buddhist Prayer

Anonymous

September 3, 2003

Death claimed you not so long ago

Our sorrow is profound.

We half expect to see you,

Your presence still around.

We long for all the moments

We know will never be.

Now our memories must sustain us

As your Spirit is set free.

You will not be forgotten

As the years pass by.

We'll keep your memory in our hearts

We'll never let it die.

December 11, 2002

Your indelible spirit, courage, and compassion has left its mark on all of those you touched. You are greatly missed.

"Wild Thing"

valerie burke

October 7, 2002

Bruce, you were all my wishes, hopes and dreams...such a place is Paradise.

Love to you and to all who now share with you your Spirit.

vjb, friend and patient

September 29, 2002

Patient or friend – Bruce guided us all. In coping with my grief over his death, I am reminded of the many times he comforted me when I was inconsolable over the death of a family member or friend.

I offer this passage from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying for all of us who are grieving the loss of one of the most extraordinary souls to grace this earth and our lives. The following is not in Bruce’s words, but the message conveyed is the essence of his guidance.

“Grief is a wound that needs attention in order to heal. To work through and complete, grief means to face our feelings openly and honestly, to express and release our feelings fully and to tolerate and accept our feelings for however long it takes for the wound to heal. We fear that once acknowledged grief will bowl us over. The truth is that grief experienced does dissolve. Grief unexpressed is grief that lasts indefinitely.”

If when we die we are asked what we did to make this world a better place while we were here, Bruce, just look at the entries in this Guest Book and into the hearts of all whose lives you touched and healed and you will have your reply. You were the guide for us to follow, leading a life of compassion, loving kindness, patience, tolerance and so much more. You live on in all of us.

It is my Soul’s joy to have been on your “Path” and to have had you brighten mine.

Farewell my friend. See you on the other side.

Debra Rose Canada

September 24, 2002

Part of a letter to Bruce that did not get mailed

in time…

If something happened to you, I would be so very sad. For many reasons, of course and the least being because of all the things I never mentioned to you because it never seemed of any importance (just my thoughts...things floating around in my head and heart after all these 20 odd years). So maybe I should let you know what’s in there, and perhaps it’s a good thing I’m writing because this would be a good way to tell you (sending love in a letter is a sweet thing to have to hold in one’s hand).

I’ve loved you not just because we had a professional relationship. I’ve had “others before” so it wasn’t that, and of course I’ve known and met a lot of people so it’s not that either. It was simply that you were different in so many ways and in ways that were very important to me…

I loved the way your mind works. You were uncontrollably and terminally curious…your mind seemed to be in perpetual motion about so many different things.

I loved how smart you were. You could master things that I didn't have the skill or the tenacity to tackle. But you gave me the hope that maybe I could.

I loved the way you took the gentle approach. You taught me to be more patient and forgiving. People can be so cruel...but it was ok, because it wasn't about me, it was about them.

I loved the way you laughed at everything (or was it just at me?)...in any case, it made ME laugh. [The intelligent man finds almost everything ridiculous; the sensible man hardly anything. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]. I think you understood that most of life was absurd. And if only all of us could laugh more...especially in the times when life was most indigestible, we wouldn't have so much heartburn.

I loved the way you disassociate yourself with gossip. I loathe it myself. You taught me that I did not have to participate in any way with gossip or the degradation of someone's soul (even when it then becomes about me because I would not go along). Places, ideas, creations, recipes for sweet potato pie are so much more interesting.

I loved the way you always looked like you had something up your sleeve.

I loved the way you love antiques. You appreciated beauty. You saw the art in things handcrafted, things made slowly, with love and skill and pride.

I loved the way you marveled at the most modern too…the crazy gadgets and clean design.

I loved the way you were full of hope and so full of life. Or just so good at pretending, that I was full too.

I loved the way loved people.

I loved the way you filled your office space with all the things you loved. It was warm, inviting, and full of life & of soul. Rarely do people really get that (most never even connect with the need to dust).

I loved the way that you’ve filled an extremely important void for me. Knowing you gave me hope there were others out there who were full of life in the ways you were and who lead lives that illicit inspiration. If not for you and a couple of others, I would have starved to death. I would have shriveled up to nothing by now.

I loved the way you made me want to be a better person....

I loved the way you taught me how to be a better person....

I loved the way you showed me how to be a better person....

by example.

And I loved the way you brought out the best in me (even when I could not).

I love you always and want you to know I am thinking of you. I am so eternally grateful you are a part of my life. You have meant so much to me throughout all these years. You were and still are so vital to my everyday life just simply by having known you.

My Love Always,

Debra Rose

[Bruce was one of the finest human beings to ever walk into my life and in the purest sense, one of the loves of my life. His wit, insight, sensitivity, charm…everything about him inspired me. I was fortunate enough to be able to say that I completely adored him. I did, I do, I will forever.

If the world was full of more people like Bruce, it wouldn’t be this world. It would be Heaven, my kinda heaven. My only hope is that we all somehow hold onto all the things he taught us and serve as an example like he did for us. And we make our lives something he would be proud of… a living testament to all that he gave us.

Bruce will never be replaced, and I will hold his memory dear until we meet again….somewhere over the rainbow.]

Lucinda Boyd

September 23, 2002

The contributions from each of you are deeply welcome to me on behalf of the larger Boyd-Bodmer family. Like you, we have experienced over the years this dear man, from his sweet, sunny, energetic childhood to the mature, complicated and affectionate uncle and cousin. His life conveys a message of use of self for others without losing the richness of that self.

On October 10 a "memorial" reception is to be held at The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 East Ontario Street, Chicago 60611.

On October 18, the ashes of Bruce and his beloved wife, Joan Palovic, deceased October 2000, will be interred at Oak Hill Cemetery, Evansville, IN.

David Pazdernik

September 18, 2002

For more than a dozen years I was a patient of Bruce's.

It is no understatement to say that he saved my life.

He did it with a combination of incredible insight, the ability to say just the right thing at just the right time and the ability to say nothing when no words were necessary.

He was one of the smartest men I've ever known and one of the kindest, gentlest and most compassionate...

the father I wish I had.

He was funny, irreverant, and truly believed that each of us must walk this earth to the beat of our own drum.

He practiced his profession differently than most...he cured the old fashioned way, not with drugs, but through conscious conversation...he subtley and unerringly led you to your own revelations.

He was very wily...some of his most powerful therapy would come in the form of an "innocent", off-the-wall thought or question just as I was about to leave a session. I'd spend the next week thinking about and damned if it didn't lead me to the right place!

Bruce, I will sorely miss you!

It was a privilege to know you, and if there were more of you in the world it would indeed be a better place!

David Pazdernik

Santa Fe, New Mexico

D. C.

September 14, 2002

When I am down and, oh my soul,so weary;

When troubles come and my heart burdened be;

Then, I am still and wait in the silence,

Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;

You raise me up, to walk on stormy seas;

I am strong, when I am on your shoulders;

You raise me up... To more than I can be.

D.C. September 14

Friend

September 14, 2002

I was blessed to have known him.

Friend

a student

September 11, 2002

Words for the Service

we who were

with him

were exposed

to his light

and in that basking

we felt--

even though

we knew differently--

as though

we were the special ones,

the only object

of his vast attention.

and,

for those moments

we were.

and that was

some of the magic

of his giving

because for us,

the green leaves

arching toward

his bright enlightening,

we were the

beneficiaries

the recipients

of his life-giving shining

and we knew

in those moments

of the power and majesty,

the essence of living

that each moment has

for us.

he showed us this

by

being there

with us, fully,

in the truth and beauty

of his every day

walking down the street

awe-struck gratitude.

his light

was

and is

a beacon

impishly and infinitely

leading us out

of

some dark misconception

we'd failed to see

in a night

of our own making.

knowing this

we become

light art

his delicate and enduring

co-creations.

everything is

shown up by

being exposed

to the light,

and whatever

is exposed

to the light

itself

becomes light.

J S

September 6, 2002

Bruce was one of the most phenomenally bright men I have ever met. I shall miss his humor, his wit, his insight, but most of all I will miss hearing his voice. We loved him very much and he has left us much too soon.

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