Mary Ray Boyce

Mary Ray Boyce was born in Waco, Texas, on January 10, 1941, the first daughter of Ray and Euvada Graves. She lived in Waco until junior high school, when her family moved to Norwalk, Connecticut. She graduated high school in Connecticut, attended New Haven State Teachers College for one year and ultimately earned her Bachelor’s degree in Education from Baylor University in 1961.

Mary met her husband, Ward Boyce, in 1960, at a singles event at Waco’s Central Presbyterian Church. Their first date was a glimpse of the adventures which were to come for Mary: a flight in a T-34 aerobatic trainer, flown by Ward, who had his pilot’s license and was a lieutenant in the US Air Force. Nine months later, the two were married at Waco’s Central Presbyterian Church.

Mary taught elementary school until the birth of her first daughter, Beverly Susan, in 1964. She gave birth to her second daughter, Mary Elizabeth, ten years later. For 28 years, Mary supported Ward’s Air Force career, even holding down the fort when he went overseas to Thailand during the Vietnam War in 1969, teaching school for the year he was gone. She prepared the household to move a total of 12 times, sometimes to exciting destinations like Spain and the United Kingdom, and other times to less thrilling places such as Gila Bend, Arizona, and Glasgow, Montana. No matter the destination, she encouraged her daughters to greet each move with excitement for what new experiences lay ahead. She was the epitome of the loyal and supportive military wife.

In 1988, Mary began her second act, moving with Ward to Mesa, Arizona, where she supported Ward’s work for the American Fighter Aces Association, as an administrative assistant. In 1998, she moved to her final home in Austin, Texas, where she and Ward enjoyed a long and fulfilling retirement. Mary cultivated new hobbies and skills, and continued to engage in travel. She grew a beautiful garden, learned to quilt, volunteered with the church, became a trained family mediator, and provided her five grandchildren with constant love, support and care.

Mary spent her life in service of others. She made people near her feel special, and loved. Mary also looked for the fun in life, and found ways to celebrate even the smallest of holidays. Each of those celebrations, no matter how small, served as ways to celebrate life itself, and brought immeasurable joy to her family.

Mary passed away on January 1, 2026, after a battle with liver failure which came to light after a hip replacement surgery. Mary is survived by her beloved husband of 64 years, Ward Boyce; her two daughters Beverly Spitznagel and her husband Robert Spitznagel, and Liz Boyce and her husband Eric; her grandchildren, Katherine Spitznagel, Cameron Spitznagel, Emma Schultz, Hayden Schultz and Ian Schultz; her siblings, Samuel Graves and his wife Florence Graves, Allan Graves and his wife Carol Gene Graves, and Sarah Maddox and her husband Terry Maddox; and six nieces and nephews.

A “Witness to the Resurrection” service will be held on January 17, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., at Hope Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. Mary will be interred at the National Military Cemetery at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio at an undetermined date, awaiting her husband to join her in the future.