Robert E. Boyce

WILLIAMSTOWN - Robert Earl Boyce, 89, of Boyce Road, died Sunday, March 9, 2014, at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H.

Born at the former Barre City Hospital on Nov. 20, 1924, he was the son of Earl and Mildred (Farr) Boyce, of Williamstown. He attended the Boyce School, just down the hill from where he lived, and later went to Williamstown High School, graduating in 1942.

During World War II he served in the Pacific theater with the U.S. Army 806th Aviation Engineers, building runways for B-29 bombers.

Upon returning home from the service, he worked on his father's farm until he eventually went to the Waterbury Trade School.

On April 11, 1953, he married Lorraine Bouchard, of Burlington. She predeceased him in 1998.

For many years, he lived and worked at various places in the Burlington area, as well as the Pratt & Whitney plant in East Hartford, Conn. Returning to Vermont in the late 1950s, he lived in the Oak Hill Trailer Park in Williston before moving back to Williamstown in 1966, where, with the exception of the past several weeks, he had lived ever since.

His primary occupation was a master electrician, and he worked for a number of local contractors in the area.

His interests included raising potatoes, fishing, hunting, working in the woods and collecting old telephones and radios. Always ready with stories and jokes, he looked forward to going to the Northfield Senior Center and the Williamstown Congregational Church for senior meals and socializing. He was a master checkers player, seldom ever losing to anyone.

He was a member of several local organizations, including the United Federated Church of Williamstown (Methodist), where he faithfully attended and served in a number of capacities, as well as singing in the choir. He was a member of the Grange for over 50 years in several communities, including Williston, South Barre, North Randolph, Orange, Barre and Randolph, and was a former master of Central Vermont Pomona Grange. Other organizations he belonged to included Summit Lodge 104 F&AM of Williamstown, the former Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6674 in Northfield and the Montpelier VFW Post 792, where he was a life member.

Survivors include his two sons, Anthony Boyce and his wife, Linda, of Burlington, and Adam Boyce and his wife, Mary-Anne, of West Windsor; a sister, Miriam Herwig, of Randolph Center; two grandsons; one great-granddaughter; and nieces and nephews.

Family and friends may call at the Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral Home, 7 Academy St., Barre, on Tuesday, March 18, 2014, from 7 to 9 p.m. A service celebrating and remembering his life will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2014, at 10:30 a.m. in the Methodist sanctuary of the United Federated Church of Williamstown. Interment will take place at a later date in the Williamstown Village Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the United Federated Church of Williamstown, P.O. Box 438, Williamstown, VT 05679.