Spencer Stroud Boyd, of Augusta (formerly Covington), passed away peacefully with family on Aug. 11, 2019, after a bout with cancer. Eighty years old at his death, he was born on Sept. 14, 1938, to Effie Ann Stroud Boyd and Charles Pressley Boyd.
He grew up in Porterdale, where his father was a supervisor at the mill and mother owned and operated the Village Inn restaurant. A product of the Newton County School System, he was an all-star basketball player who attended North Georgia College. During his two seasons on the military college team, he scored more than 1,000 points. His senior year, he averaged 29.7 points per game, which still stands as the single-season scoring average for the now-named University of North Georgia. At the end of the season, he ranked third nationally in all collegiate divisions (behind Oscar Robertson) and was nominated for All-American. After college, he served in the U. S. Army as a commissioned officer and continued his military career in the Reserves for five more years. He earned his master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and went on to doctoral studies at Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University.
He married Linda Hawkins in July 1967, and they taught together at Saint Andrews College in Laurinburg, North Carolina, where daughters Lisa and Jennifer were born. When they moved home to the Boyd family farm in Newton County, he began his long career at Cousins Middle School as a physical education teacher. He loved his students and fellow teachers and positively influenced the lives of thousands of students and educators over decades. In addition to teaching, he loved gardening, hunting, fishing, spending time with his family, and playing games of all kinds. He was involved in the community, serving as an Elder at First Presbyterian Church of Covington and a volunteer for civic organizations, the local food pantry in particular. When he and Linda retired to Augusta, they became active members of Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church and devoted much of their time to their grandchildren.
Spencer Boyd is survived by his wife Linda Hawkins Boyd; daughters Lisa Boyd and Jennifer Boyd Morgan and their spouses Ward Hobbs and Richard Morgan; adopted daughter Meghann Timmins; Jennifer and Richard’s children Harrison Boyd Bartley, Abigail Morgan, Caleb Morgan, and Daniel Morgan; and his brother Quinton Boyd.
The memorial service was held at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 16, 2019, at 11:00 a.m. at Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church (2261 Walton Way, Augusta, Georgia). In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to the American Cancer Society.
