Lila Boyd

Lila Mae Hummel was born in Ames, Iowa on May 11, 1924 to Daisy Louis Lee Hummel and Jesse Greenville Hummel. She passed away peacefully at the Barlow Assisted Living facility from complications from Alzheimer’s disease on July 7, 2012 at the age of 88. She was the youngest of three children. She was preceded in death by her sister, Dorothy and her brother, Richard Frank Hummel. Lila attended Roosevelt Elementary School, Ames Junior High and Ames High School graduating in 1942. She then enrolled at Iowa State University and received her BS degree in Applied Art in June of 1946. She joined the Delta Delta Delta sorority in 1942 and was on the lawn with other members in April of 1943, when she was spotted by Landis “Lannie” L. Boyd, who had become a member of a nearby fraternity, Kappa Sigma. Lannie was very impressed with Lila’s brilliant red hair and decided he had to meet her. He later learned that her sorority sisters had affectionately called her “Torch.” Through a fraternity friend, who knew a member of the Tri Delta sorority, he learned her name. They immediately fell for each other and they dated until he departed on July 7th, 1943 for the United State Navel Air Corps. He maintained continuing contact with almost daily letters, monthly roses and occasional telephone calls plus time in Ames, when he was on leave. They were married on September 7th, 1946. They have five children, Susan (James) Harrington of Kalamazoo, MI, Barbara Page of Mt. Ida, AR, Shirley Boyd (John Estall) of Eden Prairie, MN, Carl (Dana) Boyd of Chuluota, FL and Philip Boyd of Maple Valley, WA. They have fourteen grandchildren and seventeen great grandchildren. Lila, along with Lannie, taught their children to have high moral standards and set high goals for themselves, more through their actions than with words. As Lila was growing up, the Hummel family spent a month each summer at Potato Lake near Detroit Lakes, MN. The whole family loved to fish and Lila became an excellent swimmer and enjoyed swimming until just a couple of years ago. Lila was very involved in theater activities, both as an actress and with props, in High School, at Iowa State and in Community Theaters, where she and Lannie lived – Ithaca, NY, St. Paul, MN, and Pullman, WA. When they moved to Fort Collins, CO, because of the beginning of her Alzheimer’s disease, she no longer participated in theater activities. Lila joined PEO in 1980 in Pullman, WA and then became a member of the GS chapter in Fort Collins in 1985 for which she later served as President. Lila also was active in Methodist church activities - singing in the choirs, working with youth groups, making banners and Circle participation. In Fort Collins she edited, published and mailed the monthly Friends of the Library Newsletter for 13 years. Lila was an accomplished seamstress making clothes and costumes for her children and herself, drapes for the home and beautiful wall hangings. Lila was primarily a homemaker and volunteer, but she worked as a bookkeeper for a Ford farm machinery dealer in Ames, IA following her marriage and part time in the Duncan Hines test kitchen in Ithaca, NY. Lila will be missed, of course, by her family and friends. Lila and Lannie were grateful to have had almost 66 wonderful years together with many enjoyable experiences together and with their children. Life treated her and them well. A Celebration of Life service will be held at the Harmony Presbyterian Church led by Pastor Larry Kunter on Saturday, August 11, 2012 at 2:00 pm. A reception will follow. If you wish to leave a message of condolence, go to: http://www.goesfuneralcare.com/ and click on obituaries, then click on guest book at the bottom of the page. Also, the family would welcome printed statements of memories that friends may have of her. In lieu of flowers friends may make a contribution to one of the following or to a charity of their choice: Pathways Hospice, the Alzheimer’s Association or Elderhaus.

Lila Boyd

May 11, 1924 - July 7, 2012