Clyde E. Boykins

Clyde Edward Boykins of Bowie, MD, transitioned on Wednesday, March 27th, 2024. Clyde was born in Greenville, South Carolina to Francis Ferguson Boykins and Joseph Boykins. Clyde attended high school in Maryland, graduating from Fairmont Heights. He later attended Howard University with the dream of becoming an engineer. Although he didn’t quite achieve this dream, Clyde continued to add to his technical skillset through trainings in software configuration management, data mapping, and various programming languages.

He met and married the love of his life, Carol, and as he would jokingly say, “I married a country girl from Mountaintop, Pennsylvania”. From this union, they had two daughters, Carla Elaine, and Celeste Evyette. When his only grandson Cameron was born, that was one of the proudest moments of his life. Clyde loved his family and worked hard to ensure and provide them with the best life possible. He had the personality and charisma to make friends from all walks of life. 

Although his federal government career spans a period of almost four decades, theoretically he worked for two federal agencies: Health and Human Resources and the Department of Interior/Bureau of Mines. In 1978, Clyde transferred to the newly-formed Department of Energy as a Coal Industry Specialist. He wrote many of the programs used to process data, and for that reason, he was soon transferred to the Information Technology Division/System Design and Development as a Computer Specialist. He was responsible for the design and development of computer systems used to facilitate collection, storage, and analysis which increased efficiency in the workplace. Clyde played a major role in the re-engineering of the Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) data systems and served as team leader for the process modeling group while supervising demonstrations of electronic management systems in New York and Pittsburgh. He also served as an Equal Employment Opportunity Advisor to the Administration of EIA for many years. Shortly after retirement in 1997, Clyde formed his own company, Easy Internet Services, which offered Web Hosting, Domain Registration, Merchant Account, E-commerce Gateway, and Online Store services, to name a few. His community service and personal interests included: President of the Twelve Oaks Homeowner Civics Association, helping to facilitate candidates forms for primary elections, and testifying on many occasions before the Bowie City Council and Prince George’s County Council on issues affecting the quality of life in his neighborhood and the county as a whole. Never a dull moment in sight, Clyde’s adventurous spirit saw him taking treks on his motorcycle across the country, skiing, skydiving in the desert of Arizona, and horseback riding. He always had many stories to tell, most factual with many tall tales sprinkled in for good measure. In his spare time, he enjoyed walking, bicycling, cooking, golf, tennis, karate, and most of all, woodworking. Clyde led a full life, which included not only taking care of his family, but also his friends. In March of 2019, Clyde became a member of Zion Church.

Clyde was preceded in death by his father, Joseph Boykins, and mother, Francis Ferguson-Cross. Survivors include his wife, Carol Boykins; daughters, Carla Bushrod (Kyron) and Celeste Boykins; grandson, Cameron Boykins; stepmother, Mildred Boykins; stepbrothers, Ray Boykins (Rosalyn), Marshall Boykins (Adoncia), Tony Boykins (Sharon); stepsister, Rhonda Gross.