Mr. Robert "Bob" James Boardman

Robert James “Bob” Boardman, Major, USMC (retired), 83, of Carthage, North Carolina, and formerly of Clayton, N.C., left this life on April 17, 2025, after a courageous five-year battle against a rare and aggressive cancer.

An entertaining storyteller born March 31, 1942, he leaves behind family, friends, and friends who are family to tell the tales of his U.S. Marine Corps career and talents as a gifted electronics expert, mystery-solving mechanic and auto restorer, logistics supervisor, portrait artist, handyman, RV traveler, family man, and maker of the most delicious homemade ice cream.

Visitation is 10:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Friday, April 25, 2025 at McLaurin Funeral Home, 12830 Clayton Boulevard, Clayton, North Carolina with the funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. and interment with military honors to follow at Pinecrest Memorial Park. The service will be streamed online at: https://McLaurin-Funeral-Home-and-Pinecrest-Memorial-Park.livecontrol.tv/a8e01a3d A celebration of Bob’s life will be held in Carthage at a later date.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Bob is survived by an adoring blended family. He leaves his widow, Joanne Essey Boardman of Carthage, with whom he would have celebrated their third anniversary on April 30, 2025 and with whose determined and dedicated care he advanced through 13 reconstructive surgeries in 2020 to overcome sebaceous carcinoma of the right eyelid. Metastasized cancer recently was discovered.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 50 years, Dorene (Ready) Boardman, who was his high school sweetheart and became a dedicated partner in raising their family through the many transfers and events of his military career.

Bob grew up in Beetown and Lancaster, Wisconsin., where his family operated Boardman’s Garage. An outstanding Lancaster High School sprinter and football player who attracted the attention of NFL Green Bay Packers scouts, Bob joined the United States Marine Corps after graduation in 1960 and went on to a decorated 21-year career. He was a “Mustang” who enlisted voluntarily and rose through the ranks to become a commissioned officer. He often joked about how much trouble ensued because his draft number came up and he couldn’t report to Dubuque, Iowa, as required by law because he already was in boot camp in San Diego, California, and could not leave. His commanders spent many hours untangling the red tape.

He became an expert working with radar, and in Vietnam in 1969 as a young lieutenant with 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Missile Battalion, he led C Battery 1st LAAM BN, launching surface-to-air Hawk missiles on a hill over Da Nang. He dug up and carried for many years the sniper bullet that kicked up dust in front of his feet. As a captain, he was chosen to be attached for a year to the multinational United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and spent 1976 in the Middle East, first patrolling the Sinai Peninsula from Cairo, Egypt, and then serving as the U.N. liaison officer for the Gaza Strip. Dorene and their daughters visited Egypt and moved with Bob for a summer in Gaza, meeting families from around the world at the United Nations villas on the Mediterranean seaside, visiting United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) refugee camps, and traveling into Israel, Jordan, and Syria. Bob’s USMC assignments included Albany in Georgia, Twenty-Nine Palms in California, Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, Quantico in Virginia, Headquarters Marine Corps and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and Cherry Point in North Carolina, where the family resided in the town of Newport.

Upon retiring from the Marine Corps as a major in 1981, he worked for several defense contractors and then landed a new two-decade career as the supply supervisor with Prince William County, Virginia Schools in Manassas, where Dorene worked as a library aide and then a bookkeeper for 23 years. Their daughters graduated from Stonewall Jackson Senior High School, and Bob taught them to drive manual shift in the family pet, a 1964 Triumph TR-4. He and Dorene left Haymarket, Virginia, and retired to Clayton, North Carolina in 2004. RV travels took them around the nation and as far as North Pole, Alaska.

After losing Dorene to cancer in 2011, Bob moved in early 2016 to a cozy log cabin and built his dream garage – a log cabin as well – that holds three cars and has a lift. He met Joanne when she built a house in the same neighborhood, and she moved to the cabin when they married. Between trips introducing Joanne, a retired Cumberland County, North Carolina, educator of 40 years, to RV travels, he enjoyed his expanded family, maintained his beautiful yard, drew portraits of people and pets, made delicious ice cream for family birthdays, and restored cars. He cruised in his long-sought 1987 Jaguar XJS and had a mint-condition 1989 Bentley Turbo R nearly ready for the road.

Bob also leaves daughter Teri Boggess and son-in-law John of Raleigh, North Carolina and step-granddaughters Kelly Scott (Danny) of Forest City, North Carolina, and Debby Pace of Chattanooga, Tennessee; daughter Tami Boardman of Clayton, North Carolina; daughter Tania Boardman and grandson Jack Golder of Cary, North Carolina; stepdaughter Lindsey Trockenbrot (Austin) and step-grandchildren Parker and Charlotte of Carthage, north Carolina; and stepson Louis Agaliotis of Greensboro, North Carolina. He also leaves sister Becky (Boardman) Nodorft and brother-in-law Rex of Janesville, Wisconsin, and niece Renee Kimball (Dave) and nephews Randy Nodorft (Libby) and Ryan Nodorft of Wisconsin. He leaves nieces Shannon Wilson of Minnesota, Roxanne Boardman of Wisconsin, Marny Boardman of Wisconsin, and Samantha Ulrich of South Carolina, along with brother-in-law Walton Ready (Joyce) of Illinois, and nieces Michelle Ready and Jolynn Baumann and nephew Walton Ready Jr., all of Illinois. He leaves brothers-in-law Henry Essey (Sandra) of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and Alan Essey of Campobello, South Carolina. Cousin, Roger Irish (Frannie) of Wisconsin was especially close, and Bob cherished many others.

He also was preceded in death by his parents, Chester and Pearl (Frankland) Boardman; brother Chester M. “Bud” Boardman Jr.; and numerous in-laws, uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Bob leaves special friends who are family, including career-long Marine family Don Thompson (Amy) of Florida, Jim Nelson (Sharon) of Alabama, Bob Lace (Colleen) of Wisconsin, the Richard Choate family of Oklahoma; and lifelong friends Bob Eddy (Barbara) and Richard Burns (Nola) of Wisconsin; plus handball and racquetball partner Mitch Blair (Diane) of New York City; neighbors Robert and Linda Chambers of Newport, N.C.; the Golder, Jones, Winkler, and Wigfield families of North Carolina and Virginia; Joanne’s friend since childhood, Claudia McKenzie and her husband, Robert Hunt, of Carthage; and so many more.

The family thanks the many medical professionals who worked so hard to save and extend Bob’s life: oncology, cancer infusion, emergency department, critical care, ICU, and hospice at UNC Hospital in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and family practitioner Dr. Randall Mercier of Southern Pines, North Carolina; dermatologist Dr. Juliann Walner of Southern Pines, North Carolina who suspected the rare cancer; and Drs. Madison Clark, Renzo Zaldivar, and Donathan Hudgens for providing restorative surgeries and procedures throughout 2020 to present.

Online condolences may be made to the family at: www.mclaurinatpinecrest.com

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Bob’s memory may be made to either: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center: Checks payable to UNC Health Foundation may be mailed to UNC Health Foundation, Attn: UNC Lineberger, P.O. Box 1050, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514. To donate online: https://unchealthfoundation.org/initiatives/cancer/, or to: National Museum of the Marine Corps, 1775 Semper Fidelis Way, Triangle, VA 22172 or www.usmcmuseum.com

McLaurin Funeral Home in Clayton, North Carolina is honored to be assisting the Boardman family.