Bob Boyce
Amy and Bob
As
a result of a 1939 short story by James Thurber, a "Walter Mitty" has become
synonymous with "an ordinary often ineffectual person who indulges in
fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs". Our own Bob Boyce can never be
described as ordinary. And his life story is by no means a fantasy though highly
unusual; and his many triumphs are interspersed with some missteps. Bob's
story can probably be best told through a structured chronology. As you read the
sometimes chaotic details, rest assured that Bob has found his savior in Amy and
they are living a very happy and stable life in Wallingford PA, a suburb of
Philadelphia. Sit back, hold onto your hat, keep an internet map available, and
follow Bob's wild life adventure.
1965:
During the summer following graduation Bob worked in the print shop at T. B.
Wood's Company as a multilith operator and off-set printer, skills he would
later use while living for short stints in Denver and Boston.
After his freshman year at Shippensburg State College Bob spent the next summer
in South Bend, Indiana, with his brother Brian (CASHS 1962) who was finishing
his degree at Notre Dame. His summer job consisted of painting a warehouse, much
of which was done on a swing-stage scaffold, the type typically used to clean
windows on skyscrapers.
1966:
During a brief return for his sophomore year at Shippensburg, Bob visited New
York City and was introduced to his first acid trip, the classic Sandoz sugar
cube. That nudged Bob to embrace the counter-culture. By January, 1967, he had
sold his BSA and Indian motorcycles, supplemented finances with his summer
earnings, and headed for Zihuatanejo, Acapulco, and San Miguel de Allende,
Mexico. He enjoyed the renown cannabis of the Mexican state of Guerrero and the
psilocybin mushrooms provided by the Mazatec Indians of Huautla de Jimenez in
the State of Oaxaca.
1967:
By June of '67 Bob left Mexico for San Francisco where he spent most of the
infamous "Summer of Love" before returning to Zihuatanejo, Mexico. There he
unsuccessfully attempted to smuggle 40 pounds of cannabis into Laredo, Texas.
This resulted in his being an involuntary guest of the Federal Prison System for
13 months. While incarcerated he spent time in federal penitentiaries in El
Reno, Oklahoma; Leavenworth, Kansas; and Lewisburg and Allenwood, Pennsylvania.
Interestingly he met Jimmy Hoffa while both were imprisoned at Lewisburg. While
at Allenwood he was fortuitously assigned to the furniture factory and was in
charge of the chair construction department. They made high quality solid walnut
furniture for the Department of Defense.
1969:
While at Allenwood Bob enrolled in an Office of Economic Opportunity prison
program, Project Newgate, that was administered by Penn State's College of
Human Development. He was accepted and was paroled on December 12, 1969, to
enroll at Penn State main campus beginning in January, 1970. After eleven
consecutive terms Bob graduated in September, 1972, with a B.S. in Community
Development. During this time he was very active in efforts to reform the state
and federal prison systems. He traveled to Philadelphia and testified to the
Governor's Justice Commission, made a video, and lectured some classes on
prison life in general. Upon graduation Bob was offered jobs with Centre County,
the state of PA, and the federal government but declined. He had learned during
two practicums at Penn State that the primary goals of the jobs offered would
have been to maintain the status quo, which ran counter to his nature. Also,
while at Penn State, Bob sponsored a natural foods workshop for two terms
in what
was called the "free university".
1973:
After graduation Bob returned to Chambersburg in the spring of 1973 and
started a musical talent booking agency, Tri-State Booking Agency, in a rented
office on the top floor of the Trust Company Building on the square. He
also went to work for Ralph Tolbert Masonry as a mason tender, hard work but
enjoyable. After two years in masonry he left to work as a carpenter to finish
some townhouses at Coldbrook Meadows which had lain fallow for several years.
1975:
In the fall of 1975 Bob moved to New York City to work as a cabinetmaker
with his oldest brother Don (CASHS 1960). They rented a 6,000 sq. ft. loft on
Wooster Street in the Soho section of Manhattan, specializing in high-end custom
work. Their motto was basically "we can do anything" and innovative
architects asked them to do just about every type of woodwork one could imagine.
After his brother Don had been the main consultant for the first book in the Time/Life's
Home Improvement Series:
Space and Storage, the publisher approached Bob about being the
consultant for their book on masonry. He agreed and was paid an initial stipend
of $300 and $30 an hour, which in 1976 was pretty good, to demonstrate all
aspects of masonry construction. After about 100 hours for the final project, he
built a full size brick barbecue in their loft as they photographed every step
of the construction. Two days after completion he had the agonizing task of
taking a sledge hammer to his masterpiece. While on Wooster Street the two
brothers opened Boyce Art Gallery.
1977:
Even in NYC grass was beginning to grow under Bob's feet and it was time to
move on. In November, 1977, he moved to Kihei, Maui, to work with his brother
Neil (CASHS 1964) building Polynesian style custom homes. Shortly after his
arrival, Neil moved back to the mainland, but Bob stayed until the spring of
1980. In addition to his carpentry job, he held the maintenance contract for a
group of shops and a restaurant called Kihei Prime Rib on Kihei Road (present
site of Moose McGillycuddy's). This job paid $900 a month. He was also the
resident cabinetmaker for the Mana Kai Hotel at Keawakapu Beach. While on Maui
Bob had the distinction of saving a swimmer from drowning in a bad rip current
at Makena Beach.
1980:
Bob moved back to New York City in the spring of 1980. He rented a one bedroom,
fifth floor apartment on Thompson Street between Bleecker and West 3rd, just
south of Washington Square Park. He started Empire Wood Products and for the
next twenty-five years did any number of custom cabinet and furniture projects.
He probably worked somewhere on every street or avenue of Manhattan below 96th
Street. This was labor intensive, exacting, and in many ways underappreciated,
but he learned much about his customers and people in general. He learned that
as with any Karmic endeavor, the reward is in the doing. During the 1980's
Bob's work was featured in various publications including New
York Magazine, Metropolitan
Home, and Interior
Design. From the roof of his cabinet shop building in Red Hook,
Brooklyn, he watched the collapse of the World Trade Center on September 11,
2001.
2001:
In the summer of 2001 Bob reconnected with an old girlfriend, Amy Allen. He
first met Amy at Wilson College back in the 70s. In 2004 after four years of
traveling back and forth from NYC to her home in Wallingford PA, they decided to
move to Chambersburg. Ironically they landed in CASHS '65 classmate Mike
Lautenslager's former house at 883 Broad Street. Being back in Chambersburg
was a welcome change from the pressures of urban life. Bob began working for
Classic Craftsmen Design, a high-end architectural millwork company, located in
Letterkenny. He worked with them until 2010, when the financial crisis forced
them to close down. In 2008 Bob and Amy moved from Broad St. to Laurel Drive in
Green Knolls. In 2017 they moved to Wallingford PA to be closer to Amy's two
children and grandchildren.
Present: Bob delights in Amy's daughter Lucy and son Sam. Having never had children of his own, Bob has found happiness in his new family. He credits Amy as being his savior and the gemstone of his life. Bob's latest endeavor and great source of pride and satisfaction is the writing of his first novel Kettle of Tears. The book has received good reviews and is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Goodreads, and other literary vendors. He expresses gratitude to his high school classmates for their support of Kettle of Tears. Bob still takes on an occasional carpentry project for former customers such as Edwina Sandys, Winston Churchill's granddaughter, and he enjoys making works of wood craftsmanship for his grandchildren, nieces, and nephews. Bob estimates that he's made more than 5,000 blocks, all hardwood blocks of various shapes machined to a tolerance of .003 inch. Other recipients of his products include a few daycare centers, a nursing home and a school for mentally challenged children. He also enjoys boxwood topiary and an occasional game of golf with friends.
Bob has survived and thrived through his wild ride and has now quite happily settled into a lifestyle that would make Norman Rockwell smile.