Robert Boyke

Robert “Bob” Boyke, beloved father, grandfather, and friend, passed away on the morning of Sunday, December 29, 2024 in Burbank, CA after complications from stroke and heart conditions. He was 85 years old.

Bob was born May 13, 1939 in Detroit, Michigan to the late Edward and Laura (Kujawa) Boyke. He was the fourth child and second son of a Detroit automobile-assembly plant manager and grew up just blocks from the famous 8 Mile Road. His childhood years were passed during wartime, and it formed his sensitivity to things patriotic.

He graduated from Detroit’s Catholic Central High School in 1957 with a varsity letter for football and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Detroit in 1961. Afterward, he entered Marine Corps officer training and requested overseas duty as his first assignment. After six months of infantry training at The Basic School, he was assigned to the Marine Third Division in the far East where he served with Battalion Landing Team Two of the Ninth Marines as Rifle Platoon Commander. His unit participated in intensive training and execution of amphibious operations in Taiwan, Philippines, and Hong Kong. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in approximately November of 1963.

After his unit was rotated to the United States, Bob’s final year of service was spent in Southern California at El Toro Air Station. He completed active duty in the spring of 1965 and took a teaching position in Economics at Santa Ana Valley High School. He lived in Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and Balboa Island and enjoyed three sunny years in the California of the sixties from 1964-1966.

During this period, he moonlighted as a security officer for the then-new Disneyland resort and was fond of telling stories about seeing Walt Disney in the park. He also provided security at the world premiere of Mary Poppins in Hollywood at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. In costume as an “English Bobby” policeman, he opened limousine doors for Walt Disney, Juile Andrews, and Dick Van Dyke as they arrived, documented in the 1964 Disney featurette “Hollywood Goes to a World Premiere.”

Bob left California in 1966 to accept an offer to go to Vietnam as a national police advisor and served on active duty with the Marines, holding the rank of Captain U.S. Marine Reserve. While he was there, the Tet Offensive took place and Bob found it to be a sobering and maturing experience.

When he returned to the United States in 1969, he decided to enter graduate studies to further his knowledge of international relations. During this time while studying at American University, he was introduced to Linda Derian by his childhood friend, Ed Ryder, and they were married on April 26, 1974 in Detroit, Michigan. Bob went on to earn his Master’s degree in International Studies from American University in 1976.

Bob and Linda started a family with the birth of son Edward (“Teddy”) and daughter Sarah. He joined the U.S. Department of State as a Diplomatic Security Special Agent in 1977 and moved the family overseas to serve as a Regional Security Officer at U.S. Embassies in Paris, Abidjan, and Tunis from 1978 to 1984.

Upon returning to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., Bob joined the protective security detail of former U.S. Secretary of State George Schultz and completed several assignments in D.C. under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. In later years, he also served as a Regional Security Officer at U.S. Embassies in Port-au-Prince and Algiers, and served temporary duty assignments in Islamabad, Manama, and Lima, among other cities abroad.

He retired from the Department of State in 1999 after 22 years of service, and continued to serve in an advisory capacity with the Department’s Antiterrorism Assistance Program until 2008. After medical complications from a stroke, Bob returned to live in Southern California and remained there for his last decade to be close to his son Edward’s family in Burbank. He was proud of his daughter Sarah and son-in-law James Applegate, who also both serve in the U.S. State Department, and cherished his role as “Pops” to his six grandchildren.

During his free time, he was an avid reader and wrote a memoir of his military and government service. He enjoyed watching action movies and was a particular fan of the films High Noon, Blade Runner, and The Terminator. He was fluent in French, loved French cinema, and often went to arthouse theaters to see recent French films. His favorite musicians were Johnny Cash, the Rolling Stones, and Francis Cabrel, a French singer whose music he encountered while living in Paris. Bob was a devout Catholic and taught catechism to his children’s grade-school CCD classes overseas in Tunis.

In recent years, he became a vibrant resident of Ivy Park in Burbank, CA. He made many friends among the tenants and staff and was the founder of Ivy Park’s well-attended Short Story Club, for which he often selected pieces from The New Yorker or by his favorite writer, F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Bob is survived by his children Edward (Ashley) Boyke and Sarah (James Applegate) Boyke, his cherished grandchildren Molly Boyke, Annie Boyke, Charlotte Boyke, Henry Boyke, Smith Applegate and Iris Applegate, many nieces and nephews, his ex-wife Linda, and his lifelong friend Ed Ryder. Bob was preceded in death by his brother William Boyke, sisters June Bucknell and Adele Burns, and long ago by brother Arnold, who died as an infant.

A visitation for Robert will be held Monday, January 27, 2025 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Valley Funeral Home, 2121 West Burbank Blvd, Burbank, CA 91506. A mass will occur Tuesday, January 28, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Saint Finbar Church, 2010 W Olive Ave, Burbank, CA 91506. A committal will occur Tuesday, January 28, 2025 from 2:00 PM to 2:00 PM at Riverside National Cemetery, 22495 Van Buren Boulevard, Riverside, CA 92518.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the:

William Boyke and Susan Dillon Memorial Scholarship for the Arts at Macomb Community College. Memorial gifts can be made online to this fund at:

http://www.macomb.edu/give or mail your gift made out to MCC Foundation, and send to: 14500 E. 12 Mile Road, Warren, MI 48088. In the memo, please include Boyke Dillon Endowment fund.

Livestream Information:

Vigil:

Monday, January 27th, 4PM-8PM Pacific Time

https://www.youtube.com/live/qIWqF-oXZ0E?si=FDIUs6Z8JCz0-CAm

Funeral:

Tuesday, January 28, 10AM-11AM Pacific Time

https://www.youtube.com/live/_8nP5vxOr9I