COLUMBIA - Joe Parrish Boyd, 98, a retired civil service employee of the Housing and Urban Development Department died Wednesday, September 9, 2015. He was a Christian gentleman, a man of innate gentleness, known for his devotion to family and to his church, and an ever faithful friend to many. Mr. Boyd was born in Rock Hill, S.C., on June 28, 1917, the eldest son of the late David J. and Macie H. Boyd. He grew to young manhood in the town of York, S.C. but returned to live in Rock Hill after graduating from high school. There he worked in the Pay Roll and Personnel Office of the Rock Hill Printing and Finishing Company. During this period he was a scout master of the troop sponsored by the Lions Club. It was under his leadership that the first official Boy Scout hut was constructed on property behind the Old Fennel’s Infirmary on Confederate Avenue. At this time he was elected and ordained as the youngest deacon ever for the First Baptist Church of Rock Hill. After Pearl Harbor he volunteered for military service and served his country with distinction after graduating from military schools in Oxford, Mississippi and Fort Logan, Colorado. He served for three years in England with the 351st Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, of the Army Air Force. At the time of his discharge he was entitled to wear the EAMET service medal and the Distinguished Unit Badge GO#566, HQ 3rd Air Division. He also received the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. At the completion of his military service, Mr. Boyd relocated to Columbia, S.C., to work for the Veterans Administration Regional Office. It was here that he met and married Zenith “Betty” Shealy Hamlet. His career assignments included Chief, Employees Accounts Section of the Finance Office, Mortgage Credit Examiner in Loan Guaranty and as a Rehabilitation Officer. After an agency transfer to the Housing and Urban Development Dept., he became a significant influence in multifamily underwriting activities in the state. By the time of his retirement in 1979 his agency had honored him with many achievement awards. He was an active member in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Incarnation where he served on church council and taught both youth and adult classes in the Sunday School Department. For more than twenty years he was a volunteer worker in the soup kitchen at Washington Street Methodist Church. He was a Master Mason – an inactive member of Philanthropic Lodge No. 32, AFM, York, S.C. Mr. Boyd is survived by five daughters: Ms. Kim Ruff of Batesburg-Leesville, Mrs. Jay L. (Sheryl) Hepner of Columbia, Mrs. John S. (Elaine) Nichols of Hartsville, Miss Meredith Boyd of Austin, Texas, and Mrs. Edward (Barrie) Smith of Columbia; eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren; a sister, Mrs. Marion L. Clements, Jr. of Lincolnton, Georgia; and two brothers, Charles P. Boyd of York and Frank L. Boyd of Clover. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of fifty-four years and by brothers, Robert E. Boyd of Jacksonville, Arkansas, J. Donald Boyd and David J. Boyd of York, S.C., Larry Boyd of Rock Hill, and William C. Boyd of Whispering Pines, N.C. Funeral service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, September 12, 2015, at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel, with burial following in Greenlawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service from noon until 1:00 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Palmetto Health Hospice or the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation. The family would like to express their appreciation to his friends, neighbors, and the staff at Wildewood Downs for their many acts of kindness.
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