Wayland Dean Boyles, 93 (born August 27, 1927), long-time resident of Atlanta, passed away May 11 from natural causes. He was surrounded by his loving family. The past several years, Wayland lived in Athens, Ga., along with his beloved wife, Susie, until she passed in 2019.
Originally from King, N.C., Wayland grew up in Ronceverte, W.Va. He joined the Merchant Marines after high school graduation at 17 and then the Army at 18. Upon his discharge in 1947, he attended Marshall University, thanks to the GI Bill. There he met Mary Sue Miller (“Susie”) from Union, W.Va. They were married in 1950.
Soon thereafter, he joined IBM, where he worked for 34 years. During his successful management career, Wayland worked in Huntington, W.Va., Kingsport, Tenn., Chattanooga, Tenn., Miami, Fla. and Atlanta, Ga. A skilled handyman and tinkerer, Wayland passed along to his family a work ethic worthy of a Depression-era child.
Upon retirement, Wayland and Susie moved to Westminster, S.C., where they enjoyed life at Lake Hartwell for 20 years. Playing multiple rounds at the Chickasaw Point Golf Club became his weekly ritual. He skillfully deployed his savvy short game using a self-described “conservative course management” approach envied by competitors, family and friends.
Wayland and Susie toured the country and the world during retirement – from Europe to Russia and China to Australia and New Zealand. He was an avid sportsman and shared with his family the love of camping, baseball, basketball, tennis, golf, croquet, pool and dominos.
His passion for books, bourbon, crossword puzzles and board games continued throughout his life. His family strived to “keep him in books” with frequent treks to the Athens Public Library.
One of his passions was collecting music. He made the transition from LPs, to cassettes, to CDs, to his cherished iPod. His library ranged from country and pop classics to bluegrass, gospel and old time.
Ever the sarcastic wit and master of the understatement, Wayland frequently cracked up family and friends with his wry comments. Asked once too many times how he was doing after a long hospital stay recently, he finally began responding to all who asked “poorly -- but not terrible.”
Wayland was predeceased by his wife, Susie, and is survived by his brother, the Rev. Bruce Boyles (Stroudsburg, Pa.), daughters Connie Sue Boyles Lane (Concord, N.H.) and Ann Louise Patterson (Athens, Ga.), son Mark Joseph Boyles (Decatur, Ga.), grandchildren Daniel Garry Lane (Concord, N.H.), Jeffrey Wayland Lane (Portland, Ore.) and Zoe Malloy Boyles (Long Barn, Calif..).
A private ceremony was held by the family. They request that persons reading this listen to their favorite version of “Amazing Grace” in tribute to Wayland’s collection of the classic hymn.
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