John Boyne

John Daniel Boyne, 93, passed away in Santa Fe, New Mexico on March 13, 2026, with his son and daughter by his side. He was born in Centerville, MA on September 20, 1932, to Harold Anderson Boyne and Alice (Childs) Boyne, and grew up in the family’s home on West Main Street with his older brother, the late Dr. Hal Boyne.

John attended Barnstable High School, where he played on the varsity football team. After school, he was often seen in the company of his best friends—Jim Brown, Charlie Hills, and Jack Pendergast II—all of whom would remain close for the rest of their lives. After graduation, John travelled to the Midwest to attend the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and there he met the love of his life, Mary Jo (Tepp). John earned a B.A. degree in history from UWSP. He was also a member of the college’s undefeated 1955 football team, playing the guard position though he weighed only 160 pounds (he was nicknamed “Mighty-mite Boyne.”) He was later inducted into UWSP’s Athletics Hall of Fame. John went on earn a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and became a lifelong fan of the Wisconsin Badgers.

John began his professional career working for the Kimberly Clark Corporation, but then moved back east, to Massachusetts and Connecticut, where he worked for several packaging companies. He eventually rose to the position of President for the Jiffy Packaging Corporation, headquartered in Beverly, MA. After John’s retirement, John and Mary Jo divided their time between their Centerville home on 70 Old Stage Road and their residence in Parrish, Florida.

After Mary Jo’s sudden death in 2011, John spent the bulk of his time in Florida. However, he returned to the Cape in the summer of 2024 to play a final round of golf at Hyannis port, where he had once been a member. John was a passionate and skilled golfer. When his children, Shawn and Dan, took him to Scotland in 2023, he still was able to beat them in a round of golf at age 90.

In retirement, John volunteered with the Daystar Life Center in St. Petersburg, FL and sang in the choir at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in Wimauma, FL. He was a warm-hearted, generous person who gave freely to numerous charities, and created a nursing scholarship at UWSP in his wife’s name.

John is survived by his children, Shawn Boyne, of Santa Fe, NM and Daniel Boyne, of Cambridge, MA, his granddaughter, Mikaela Boyne, of Athens, GA and numerous nieces and nephews.

A funeral mass will be held at 11am, Thursday, March 26, at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville followed by burial at Beechwood Cemetery and a bereavement luncheon in the Parish Hall. Donations may be made to the St Joseph’s House in Hyannis operated by the Catholic Charities Office of Fall River, MA.