James W. Boyd

James Wayne Boyd was born in Stoneboro, Pennsylvania, to Basil and Ruth (Walker) Boyd. For a long time, the family had a farm, but in the 1930s, Jim’s dad opened a hardware store. Jim remembers assembling bicycles for customers and putting in extra hours during county fair days and holidays.

Busy at the store, Jim didn’t get to engage in many school activities. But for two years, he was manager of Stoneboro High School’s championship basketball team, a time in his life that he loved and talked about often. 

When it came time for college, Jim admits he procrastinated until his father drove him to Houghton College to meet with the president. He enrolled just a few weeks before the 1945 academic year. For two years, he lived above the town’s general store with his cousin, Chuck Kaltenbaugh. The store was run by his cousins Chet and Ruth Barker, and he earned money unloading groceries at the store. 

He also worked in the college dining room as a waiter. One day, he was preparing for the dinner meal when he noticed a student setting the tables, a girl and the only other person in the room. She looked over and smiled. “She’s smiling at me for some reason,” he thought. “I better find out why!” 

Her name was Arleen Werres. Jim knew right away he wanted to ask her out. They married in 1950 and enjoyed a 66-year marriage before her death in 2016. “What made our marriage work was our devotion to the Lord,” he said. 

After graduating in 1949, Jim taught math at Marion College in Indiana for two years before going to work for Kodak. As an engineer, he worked on machinery in the division that developed and perfected film. 

For their first two summers, the couple lived in State College, Pa., while Jim took physics courses at Penn State. The first summer, they house-sat for a professor and his wife who were on leave, even taking charge of their two children. The next summer, they lived in a basement apartment, sharing an icebox with another couple with whom they got along famously. 

Jim was in the generation that founded Northgate Bible Chapel and Camp Li Lo Li. He could do anything — electrical work, carpentry, siding and roofing. The only thing he didn’t like was plumbing! For decades, he was an elder at Northgate, where he preached, taught Bible classes and treasured his time with children in the nursery. He loved working in the kitchen at camp. He used his culinary skills at Northgate, too, preparing the chapel’s Saturday prayer breakfasts.

For many years, he volunteered for the Monroe County prison ministry, working with inmates on their Emmaus Bible correspondence courses, encouraging them in their faith. In 1988, he volunteered for the Billy Graham Crusade held in Rochester, another highlight of his life. Around the house, he hummed favorite hymns — off key! — especially when doing the dishes.

Jim took the first severance package Kodak ever offered and retired at age 55. He was grateful he could devote his time to camp, his family and his ministry at Northgate. 

He was predeceased by his wife, Arleen, and survived by their three daughters and their husbands: Eleanor and Ted Fox; Nancy and John Kennedy; and Janet and Ken Hallatt. They are also survived by five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren: Alissa Owens and her husband Paul, and their daughter, Samantha; Emily Craig, her husband Tim, and their children, Seth, Sean and Elena; Kelsey Hallatt; Abigail Hallatt; and Evan Kennedy and his wife Haley. 

Family will receive friends 3-5 pm, Friday, September 13, 2024, at New Comer Cremations and Funerals, 2636 Ridgeway Ave. (Greece Location). On Saturday morning 10 am friends may assemble at Falls Cemetery (Corner of Latona Rd. and Ridge Rd. W.) for graveside services.

A Memorial Service will follow the interment at 11 am at Northgate Bible Chapel, 240 McGuire Rd. Rochester, NY 14616.

In lieu of flowers friends may make contributions to CMML or Camp Li-Lo-Li in Randolph, NY, in memory of Jim.

To light a virtual candle or to sign his guestbook scroll to the bottom of the page.