David Merrill Boyington

He was 69 years old. He was a giving, loving, smart, and inspiring person to know. When he came into a room, he was the kind of person everybody wanted as a friend. Like his mother, Elizabeth Boyington, he was likable, generous, fun, loving, and humorous.

As his older brother, Paul, I remember that when we were young, David would follow me around, trying to emulate his older brother. He wanted to be like me, and he shadowed me everywhere. I wasn’t always as understanding or patient as I could have been with this true friend that my brother already was. But as we grew into adulthood, we began to truly appreciate each other. We came to understand each other profoundly, and our relationship deepened into a solid, steady friendship that became one of the great blessings of my life.

An avid golfer, he won Portland-area golf championships, and in college he was a zero-handicap player. He lettered and served as captain of the Washington State University (WSU) golf team. Golf taught him to “play the ball where it lay,” not where he wished it could be, and to face life with that same steady acceptance and sense of humor.

He never took himself too seriously, the way some people do in golf and in life. He was simply a pleasure to know.

In high school, he was an avid photographer and loved shooting and developing photographs. He was also an incredible athlete and became known as a great golfer. He was always willing to lend a hand, very likable and outgoing, and he could always make you laugh with his sharp, sarcastic, and very accurate humor. At the same time, he could give serious, grounded advice, especially in his world of civil engineering, which he practiced from his graduation in the 1980s until his death. For many years he was extremely knowledgeable, a great problem solver, and a true asset to everyone he worked with.

After graduating with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Portland, David started his own construction company as a general contractor. His firm, Boyington Construction, was based in Vancouver, Washington. He built multimillion-dollar homes as well as complex sewage-treatment and water-works projects in Washington, Oregon, and Louisiana during the 1980s and 1990s. He worked very hard, and the company was successful, but the challenges of being your own boss eventually took their toll.

After running his own firm for a number of years, he decided to become a consultant. I believe he loved that phase of his career even more. As a consultant, he got to focus on engineering, problem-solving, and the work itself, without having to deal with personnel issues and office politics. He often told me how much he enjoyed being able to go home at the end of the day without the management worries that came with running his own company. For the last 25 to 30 years of his life, he was very happy working as a consultant.

As a civil-engineering consultant, he worked for major firms throughout the Pacific Northwest, other parts of the United States, and Canada. His recent work included consulting at the Hanford nuclear power plant in Richland, Washington, and at the Los Alamos nuclear facility in New Mexico, where the atom bomb was developed. He also worked in the oil-fracking industry in North Dakota and in the far northern regions of Canada, north of British Columbia, consulting on oil fields in remote areas.

As his older brother, I had the pleasure of working with him recently and seeing his brilliance firsthand—his analytical mind and his ability to solve tough problems. He helped me with a house I am rehabbing in New York City that was damaged during Hurricane Sandy. He was invaluable in getting me through the difficult construction challenges I faced as a first-time developer and investor. He never wavered in his support or in his understanding of what I was trying to accomplish with that rehabilitation project.

On a personal level, he was a great husband, father, brother, and son. Our mother especially counted on him to help her through the challenges she faced after our father passed away. When I was helping her in her 90s, David was always there to support anything we needed, including the many economic and personal challenges that arose, especially as her health issues became more complicated in her 99th year. His phone calls and his presence were deeply appreciated by her and by me. The impact he had was profoundly positive and loving, and I know he was a joy to raise as a son in both of our parents’ lives.

In more recent years, he sometimes talked about retiring from engineering, but I also know he loved to build things, solve problems, and work on projects. His son and I both feel he would have wanted to keep working as long as he could. It gave him great satisfaction, in keeping with the example our parents set about accomplishing great things in life. David liked to get up every morning and have an impact on the world—which he did, every day of his life.

Second, David was very much a family man. He loved being married and was blessed to find the true love of his life. When he met Linda, playing golf, he was ecstatic. She made him profoundly happy and deeply loved. They would cook great meals together—she is an incredible cook—and he would host, always telling me how much fun he had having friends over and how wonderful Linda’s cooking was. David was the consummate host and maitre d’; your glass never went dry because he enjoyed being the cheerful, humorous bartender too.

Before that, he was married to Chris of Portland, OR, and then to Diane Blosser of Portland, OR. He was over the moon when his son Scott was born during his marriage to Diane. He loved every minute of being a father and supported his son fully. He was both a great leader and a great friend to his son, Scott Boyington, who always knew he had a father he could count on for answers, for help with challenges, and for guidance through the riddles life threw at him while he was growing up. David was never critical—just a steady supporter and caring leader as a dad.

Through his marriage to Linda, he was also proud to be a loving presence in the life of her son, Trent, and Trent’s wife, Annie. Together with Linda, he absolutely loved being a grandparent to their two children. It was one of the true joys of his life to have grandchildren he could enjoy, spoil a little, and watch grow. After David passed, Trent told me that now, when he goes over to see his mother, there is no David at the door—the bright, loving presence welcoming him into the house. That simple image says everything about how much David will be missed as a stepfather and grandfather.

Speaking personally, as his older brother Paul, I was incredibly lucky to have him in my life. He was always behind me 100%, never judging me for my artistic or business style in the entertainment world I’ve inhabited in my career. He was the best brother and friend a person could ask for. I could always count on him for answers, or to help me reason through complex problems. He was very smart, deeply understanding, and he will be missed more than I can ever fully express.

He was a bright guiding light that went out in our world when he passed. Besides our parents, he was my biggest supporter. I loved him from the minute my mother brought him home from the hospital when I was three years old, and I will miss him dearly for eternity—until, hopefully, we meet again someday.

Celebration of Life for David Merrill Boyington will be held at 11:00 AM on February 20, 2026 at Mills & Mills Funeral Home, 5725 Littlerock Rd. SW, Tumwater, WA 98512.

—Written with love by his older brother, Paul.