Armand R. Boyer

February 14, 1938 - March 18, 2010
Armand R. Boyer, age 72, of Durham, died March 18th, 2010 at UNC Hospitals.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Edna I. Goditt and Eugene F. Boyer. He graduated from Attleboro High School and attended Rollins College in Winter Park, FL. He served eight years in the United States Army Reserve receiving an honorable discharge in 1963. After leaving the Army, Armand embarked on a very interesting career. He began with the Electric Boat Division of General Electric, helping build America's first nuclear submarines. Following that, he moved to central Florida, where he began working at the Kennedy Space Center during the buildup to America's Apollo program.
It was due to the work of men and women like Armand that America took its first steps on the moon. Armand worked tirelessly in the role of Assistant Fire Chief for KSC, responsible for rocket and astronaut safety up to and during the launch of the most powerful machine that human beings have ever built - the Saturn V rocket that carried the astronauts to the lunar surface. He bunkered in a "safe" room directly beneath the roaring Saturn V at liftoff with his crew, ready to help save the lives of the people above should anything malfunction during the launch. At the conclusion of the Apollo program, Armand moved to North Carolina, where he worked for many years in the automobile industry prior to his retirement in 2008.
Over the years, Armand developed the wonderful skill of cooking and became a gourmet chef, earning the respect of chefs at many fine restaurants in the Triangle area. A meal cooked and served by Armand was one to remember and quickly became legendary amongst his friends and family. Throughout it all, Armand was a man of good humor with a razor-sharp wit that could bring smiles to anyone around him. He was tirelessly devoted to his family and friends and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
Armand is survived by his wife, Deirdre; son, Charles and daughter-in-law, Maggie; daughter, Leslie Dean and son-in-law, Mike; daughter, Carol Boyer; stepchildren, Therese, Liam and Patrick Ewing and Rebecca Rutkowski; and son-in-law, Doug.
His tall stories will be greatly missed by his grandchildren, Nicole Dean, Joshua and Christina McDowell, Haley Ewing and Jack, Hayden and Caroline Rutkowski. Armand will be deeply missed by his cousin, Linda Fernandes and husband, Bill, brother-in-law, Declan O’Neill and wife, Marianne and nephews, Conor and Ronan, and lifelong friend, Dave Brask.
A mass celebrating Armand’s life will be offered at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Chapel Hill at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 27, 2010.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorials be made to the: Armand Boyer Memorial Fund
Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
UNC School of Medicine, CB# 7020, 4127 Bioinformatics,
Chapel Hill, NC 27517, Phone 919 966-2531;
May the road rise to meet you and the wind be always at your back.
The sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And, until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand