Paul Eugene Boyce made the journey home to be with his beloved and recently departed wife Melissa, on May 4, 2020, just six weeks after Melissa was welcomed into heaven. She was fiercely devoted to Paul for the sixty seven years the two shared a life together on this earth and we know she welcomed him home with a loving emembrace.
Paul leaves behind four children, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Paul was born on March 22, 1928, on the eve of the Great Depression, in Luke, Maryland, a paper mill town on the West Virginia border. He lost his mother at an early age but his dad, Clyde, eventually remarried and Paul became a caring older brother to Clyde and Pearl's sons Joe and Terry. Paul finished high school and went to work in the paper mill.
His future might have been limited to long hours in the mill and evenings in Luke's pool halls, had it not been for him finding the Lord in his early twenties, a transformation that made him into the good christian husband and father he became a few short years later.
Paul's calling was the ministry and that led him to enroll in Zion Bible Institute, in East Providence, in the early 1950's. It was there he met Melissa Hodgeman, the daughter of missionaries who were fulfilling their own calling in what was then Rhodesia, in Africa. Paul and Melissa were married on New Year's Eve, 1952, in Luke, but returned shortly to East Providence.
Paul never lost his love for the ministry, but he turned his energy to raising with Melissa a family that was firmly grounded in their Christian faith. David arrived late in 1953, followed by Stephen, Susan and Melissa. Times were not easy, but Paul never shirked his responsibility as a provider, working in an electrical parts store, a mill and for many years at a plant that manufactured stereo speakers. He was steadfast in his devotion to his family and rigorous in imparting to his children Christ's teachings. As people used to say, Paul and Melissa raised their kids right, with the proper mix of tenderness and discipline.
Paul was meticulous in how he took care of things, from his well maintained cars to the carefully organized cellar work bench where he repaired tvs, his orderly tool shed, the yard he mowed with a frequency that led the neighborhood, to his own appearance and that of his well scrubbed and (usually) well behaved children.
He was a gifted athlete, swam effortlessly and could hit a pop fly a mile high and spent many an hour in the street or playground playing catch with David and Stephen.
Once the kids eventually left the roost, Paul made countless trips to visit his children, patiently assisting them in their many changes of address during early adulthood, welcoming their spouses, helping maintain their cars and residences, playing with his grandkids, watching their soccer matches and traveling long distances to visit them in their homes.
Paul was a good, decent and devoted husband, father and grandfather, a man who shouldered responsibility without complaint, skilled with his hands, ready to assist whenever and however he could, a man who took good care of things. He held onto things in an age where things, and sometimes people, are discarded thoughtlessly.
His love and knowledge of God's Word grew continuously throughout his entire life—he was "mighty in the Scriptures."
Above all, he took care of his family, whose needs he placed above his own, from the time he and Melissa started a family until the past year when his Parkinson's made it necessary for him to reside in a nursing home, something he endured with few complaints, choosing instead to enjoy the company of his lifelong companion, Melissa, who visited him without fail every day, until death did them part, but only briefly.
In these last months Paul confided to Melissa that he had two tickets home. They have made the journey, and are now together for eternity.
Published in The Providence Journal on May 9, 2020.
Paul leaves behind four children, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Paul was born on March 22, 1928, on the eve of the Great Depression, in Luke, Maryland, a paper mill town on the West Virginia border. He lost his mother at an early age but his dad, Clyde, eventually remarried and Paul became a caring older brother to Clyde and Pearl's sons Joe and Terry. Paul finished high school and went to work in the paper mill.
His future might have been limited to long hours in the mill and evenings in Luke's pool halls, had it not been for him finding the Lord in his early twenties, a transformation that made him into the good christian husband and father he became a few short years later.
Paul's calling was the ministry and that led him to enroll in Zion Bible Institute, in East Providence, in the early 1950's. It was there he met Melissa Hodgeman, the daughter of missionaries who were fulfilling their own calling in what was then Rhodesia, in Africa. Paul and Melissa were married on New Year's Eve, 1952, in Luke, but returned shortly to East Providence.
Paul never lost his love for the ministry, but he turned his energy to raising with Melissa a family that was firmly grounded in their Christian faith. David arrived late in 1953, followed by Stephen, Susan and Melissa. Times were not easy, but Paul never shirked his responsibility as a provider, working in an electrical parts store, a mill and for many years at a plant that manufactured stereo speakers. He was steadfast in his devotion to his family and rigorous in imparting to his children Christ's teachings. As people used to say, Paul and Melissa raised their kids right, with the proper mix of tenderness and discipline.
Paul was meticulous in how he took care of things, from his well maintained cars to the carefully organized cellar work bench where he repaired tvs, his orderly tool shed, the yard he mowed with a frequency that led the neighborhood, to his own appearance and that of his well scrubbed and (usually) well behaved children.
He was a gifted athlete, swam effortlessly and could hit a pop fly a mile high and spent many an hour in the street or playground playing catch with David and Stephen.
Once the kids eventually left the roost, Paul made countless trips to visit his children, patiently assisting them in their many changes of address during early adulthood, welcoming their spouses, helping maintain their cars and residences, playing with his grandkids, watching their soccer matches and traveling long distances to visit them in their homes.
Paul was a good, decent and devoted husband, father and grandfather, a man who shouldered responsibility without complaint, skilled with his hands, ready to assist whenever and however he could, a man who took good care of things. He held onto things in an age where things, and sometimes people, are discarded thoughtlessly.
His love and knowledge of God's Word grew continuously throughout his entire life—he was "mighty in the Scriptures."
Above all, he took care of his family, whose needs he placed above his own, from the time he and Melissa started a family until the past year when his Parkinson's made it necessary for him to reside in a nursing home, something he endured with few complaints, choosing instead to enjoy the company of his lifelong companion, Melissa, who visited him without fail every day, until death did them part, but only briefly.
In these last months Paul confided to Melissa that he had two tickets home. They have made the journey, and are now together for eternity.
Published in The Providence Journal on May 9, 2020.
Paul Eugene Boyce made the journey home to be with his beloved and recently departed wife Melissa, on May 4, 2020, just six weeks after Melissa was welcomed into heaven. She was fiercely devoted to Paul for the sixty seven years the two shared a life together on this earth and we know she welcomed him home with a loving emembrace.
Paul leaves behind four children, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Paul was born on March 22, 1928, on the eve of the Great Depression, in Luke, Maryland, a paper mill town on the West Virginia border. He lost his mother at an early age but his dad, Clyde, eventually remarried and Paul became a caring older brother to Clyde and Pearl's sons Joe and Terry. Paul finished high school and went to work in the paper mill.
His future might have been limited to long hours in the mill and evenings in Luke's pool halls, had it not been for him finding the Lord in his early twenties, a transformation that made him into the good christian husband and father he became a few short years later.
Paul's calling was the ministry and that led him to enroll in Zion Bible Institute, in East Providence, in the early 1950's. It was there he met Melissa Hodgeman, the daughter of missionaries who were fulfilling their own calling in what was then Rhodesia, in Africa. Paul and Melissa were married on New Year's Eve, 1952, in Luke, but returned shortly to East Providence.
Paul never lost his love for the ministry, but he turned his energy to raising with Melissa a family that was firmly grounded in their Christian faith. David arrived late in 1953, followed by Stephen, Susan and Melissa. Times were not easy, but Paul never shirked his responsibility as a provider, working in an electrical parts store, a mill and for many years at a plant that manufactured stereo speakers. He was steadfast in his devotion to his family and rigorous in imparting to his children Christ's teachings. As people used to say, Paul and Melissa raised their kids right, with the proper mix of tenderness and discipline.
Paul was meticulous in how he took care of things, from his well maintained cars to the carefully organized cellar work bench where he repaired tvs, his orderly tool shed, the yard he mowed with a frequency that led the neighborhood, to his own appearance and that of his well scrubbed and (usually) well behaved children.
He was a gifted athlete, swam effortlessly and could hit a pop fly a mile high and spent many an hour in the street or playground playing catch with David and Stephen.
Once the kids eventually left the roost, Paul made countless trips to visit his children, patiently assisting them in their many changes of address during early adulthood, welcoming their spouses, helping maintain their cars and residences, playing with his grandkids, watching their soccer matches and traveling long distances to visit them in their homes.
Paul was a good, decent and devoted husband, father and grandfather, a man who shouldered responsibility without complaint, skilled with his hands, ready to assist whenever and however he could, a man who took good care of things. He held onto things in an age where things, and sometimes people, are discarded thoughtlessly.
His love and knowledge of God's Word grew continuously throughout his entire life—he was "mighty in the Scriptures."
Above all, he took care of his family, whose needs he placed above his own, from the time he and Melissa started a family until the past year when his Parkinson's made it necessary for him to reside in a nursing home, something he endured with few complaints, choosing instead to enjoy the company of his lifelong companion, Melissa, who visited him without fail every day, until death did them part, but only briefly.
In these last months Paul confided to Melissa that he had two tickets home. They have made the journey, and are now together for eternity.
Published in The Providence Journal on May 9, 2020.
Paul leaves behind four children, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Paul was born on March 22, 1928, on the eve of the Great Depression, in Luke, Maryland, a paper mill town on the West Virginia border. He lost his mother at an early age but his dad, Clyde, eventually remarried and Paul became a caring older brother to Clyde and Pearl's sons Joe and Terry. Paul finished high school and went to work in the paper mill.
His future might have been limited to long hours in the mill and evenings in Luke's pool halls, had it not been for him finding the Lord in his early twenties, a transformation that made him into the good christian husband and father he became a few short years later.
Paul's calling was the ministry and that led him to enroll in Zion Bible Institute, in East Providence, in the early 1950's. It was there he met Melissa Hodgeman, the daughter of missionaries who were fulfilling their own calling in what was then Rhodesia, in Africa. Paul and Melissa were married on New Year's Eve, 1952, in Luke, but returned shortly to East Providence.
Paul never lost his love for the ministry, but he turned his energy to raising with Melissa a family that was firmly grounded in their Christian faith. David arrived late in 1953, followed by Stephen, Susan and Melissa. Times were not easy, but Paul never shirked his responsibility as a provider, working in an electrical parts store, a mill and for many years at a plant that manufactured stereo speakers. He was steadfast in his devotion to his family and rigorous in imparting to his children Christ's teachings. As people used to say, Paul and Melissa raised their kids right, with the proper mix of tenderness and discipline.
Paul was meticulous in how he took care of things, from his well maintained cars to the carefully organized cellar work bench where he repaired tvs, his orderly tool shed, the yard he mowed with a frequency that led the neighborhood, to his own appearance and that of his well scrubbed and (usually) well behaved children.
He was a gifted athlete, swam effortlessly and could hit a pop fly a mile high and spent many an hour in the street or playground playing catch with David and Stephen.
Once the kids eventually left the roost, Paul made countless trips to visit his children, patiently assisting them in their many changes of address during early adulthood, welcoming their spouses, helping maintain their cars and residences, playing with his grandkids, watching their soccer matches and traveling long distances to visit them in their homes.
Paul was a good, decent and devoted husband, father and grandfather, a man who shouldered responsibility without complaint, skilled with his hands, ready to assist whenever and however he could, a man who took good care of things. He held onto things in an age where things, and sometimes people, are discarded thoughtlessly.
His love and knowledge of God's Word grew continuously throughout his entire life—he was "mighty in the Scriptures."
Above all, he took care of his family, whose needs he placed above his own, from the time he and Melissa started a family until the past year when his Parkinson's made it necessary for him to reside in a nursing home, something he endured with few complaints, choosing instead to enjoy the company of his lifelong companion, Melissa, who visited him without fail every day, until death did them part, but only briefly.
In these last months Paul confided to Melissa that he had two tickets home. They have made the journey, and are now together for eternity.
Published in The Providence Journal on May 9, 2020.
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