Our loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother and friend, Boyd Louis Keller, passed away peacefully on January 19, 2019. Boyd was born March 15, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Louis Oliver and Agnes Margaret (Ahlquist) Keller, the oldest of three children.
Boyd graduated from South High School in 1946 and served a mission in Sweden from May 1949 to December 1951. He reminisced about his experience often mentioning the long boat ride, the difficulty in learning the language, and the crunchy cold snow. When he returned, he married his high school sweetheart, Janet Stevens, on March 19, 1952 in the Salt Lake Temple. They moved into an apartment while Boyd attended the ROTC program at the University of Utah. Upon completion, Boyd was commissioned in the Army Intelligence as a 2nd lieutenant and they bought a house only to be transferred two years later to Fort Holabird in Baltimore, Maryland. After two years, they returned to Salt Lake City and bought their current home where they raised two sons and two daughters. They also raise a granddaughter, Angel, who has brought lots of joy to their lives.
On his return to civilian life, Boyd continued to serve many years in the National Guard and Reserves retiring as a Captain while he worked as an engineer for F.C. Torkelson Engineers, Eimco, and Ford, Bacon & Davis among others. He designed and managed the building of several large projects including specializing in slurry pumps at the Kennecott Copper Mine, an automated rocket motor manufacturing plant at Hercules, and the rocket testing sight at Thiokol giving him a reputation of getting the hard jobs done.
Boyd and Janet spent many fun hours camping and boating with their family and friends at Pineview Reservoir, Yellowstone National Park, and Lake Powell along with the annual Ward outing to Moab National Park. Boyd was always amazed that Janet could water ski, run the Snake River rapids, and parasail without getting her hair wet!
After retiring, Boyd and Janet served a mission in Sydney, Australia teaching the Family History Program from September 1994 to March 1996. Boyd had a passion for genealogy. He thoroughly enjoyed helping others find their ancestors and relished the challenge of a difficult search. When they returned, Boyd served as a part-time missionary at the Family History Library and Director of the Tri-Stake Family History Library for six years. Over the years, Boyd and Janet served many positions in the LDS Church reflecting the importance their religion played in their lives. They continued to travel with their friends to Hawaii and New Zealand and on cruises to Alaska, Mexico and the Panama Canal. Together, they traveled to Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, France, Germany and Spain.
Boyd loved his family, friends, and the life he built with Janet. He especially loved the grandbabies who he could instantly sooth with his gentle touch. He was an intelligent and kind-hearted man with a dry sense of humor. And, he was a great teacher to many.
We love you, Boyd! You will be missed.
Boyd is survived by his wife Janet Keller, brother LaVere Keller, sister Carolyn Mayo, son Brent (Darlene) Keller, son Bart (Sheri) Keller, daughter Kristin (Mark) Campbell, 16 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and daughter Jan Keller.
