Carl Dean Boyd was born June 2, 1938, to James Earl “Babe” Boyd and Ruth Frances Walker on the Old Boyd Farm in the town of Elba in McLean County, Kentucky. Carl was the second oldest of six boys. His family worked hard for what they had and lived a simple life. When Carl was two years old the family moved to Owensboro in Daviess County, Kentucky.
Carl’s first job was delivering newspapers in Owensboro, Kentucky, and he used to ride his bike after school to deliver the local paper to subscribers.
Carl was twelve years old when he trusted Christ as his savior, and he was baptized and joined the Crabtree Avenue Baptist Church in Owensboro. He attended Tech High in Owensboro and graduated in 1956. Carl told the story that one day he was in high school working on a project when he heard God’s voice speak to him, telling him that he was going to be a preacher.
Right after high school Carl joined the army reserves and was on active duty for six months at Fort Knox, Kentucky. His regiment was called the Boy Wonders. Carl served in the army reserves for six years, attending summer training camps in Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland.
Prior to entering college, Carl worked for several newspapers and continued working in this field during and after college. The papers included the Owensboro Messenger, Owensboro, Kentucky, the Rockport Journal, Rockport, Indiana, and the Woodward Daily Press, Woodward, Oklahoma. He also worked for a time at the California Packing Co. (Del Monte) in Mendota, Illinois.
Carl first attended college at Bethel Baptist College, and this is where he met the love of his life, Suzanne Barnett of Central City, Kentucky. He attended Bethel for two years and graduated in 1961, earning an Associate of Arts Degree. From there he attended Campbellsville Baptist College where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree, graduating in 1964.
Carl began a career as an elementary school teacher and his first teaching job was in Hardinsburg, in Butler County, Kentucky. His first pastorate was at Woodward Valley Baptist Church in Livermore, Kentucky, where he served from 1962 to 1964.
On Aug. 25, 1964, Carl married Suzanne Barnett at the First Baptist Church in Central City, Kentucky. A couple of days after the wedding, they started out on a great adventure and drove cross country to their new life in Klamath, California, where Carl taught elementary school.
It was nearly Christmas in 1964 when the town of Klamath was hit with a destructive flood, forcing Carl and Suzanne to flee for their lives. They lost everything they owned, save for their wedding photos, a metal box of important papers and the back seat of the car full of dirty laundry they had planned to take to a laundromat. Carl continued to teach school in Klamath after the flood, and in September 1965 Suzanne gave birth to their first son, Mark Allen.
Carl and his family moved to Eureka, California, in 1966 and he taught at Rio Dell Elementary. In the same year Carl also accepted the position of pastor at Ridgewood Heights Baptist Church. Carl continued his education, attending Humboldt State University for post graduate work. In February 1968, a daughter. Janet Ruth, was born to Carl and Suzanne, followed by a son in 1969, Carl Wayne. A new parsonage was built on the grounds of the church at Ridgewood Heights and the Boyd family were the first ones to live there.
On June 6, 1970, Carl’s father, James Earl Boyd, died suddenly of a heart attack. The family made a trip back to Kentucky for the funeral and Carl was reunited with his mother and brothers.
Carl pastored for a short time at Sunny Brae Baptist Church in Arcata, California, in 1972 while continuing to teach in Rio Dell. He and Suzanne purchased a home in Rio Dell and moved the family there in 1972, while staying at the parsonage in Sunny Brae on the weekends. In the same year, Carl was offered the position of pastor at Klamath First Baptist Church and accepted the position. On Friday evenings, Carl would drive the family to Klamath where they would spend the weekend at the parsonage, and on Sunday evenings after church make the long trip back to Rio Dell where he would teach school the next morning.
Carl resigned from his teaching position in Rio Dell in 1973 and the family moved to the parsonage in Klamath where Carl became full time pastor of Klamath First Baptist Church. The years spent in Klamath were a happy time for the family and most summers included a drive cross country to Kentucky to visit family.
In 1979, Carl was called to preach at Concord Missionary Baptist Church in White Plains, Kentucky, and the family moved back to the home state of Carl and Suzanne. The couple enjoyed being closer to family and many holidays and birthday were spent with their parents. Carl was the pastor at Concord when the new church was built in 1984.
In 1987 Carl and Suzanne moved to Pikeville, Kentucky, with their youngest son Carl Wayne where Carl accepted the position of Director of Missions of the Pike County Southern Baptist Association. His new position would take him on old mountain roads in Eastern Kentucky to visit the churches that were a part of the association.
Although his calling was home missions, Carl was involved in a mission trip to Russia and visited St. Petersburg in 1994.
Carl and Suzanne retired in 2005 and purchased a motorhome RV with plans to travel the country. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it far when the motorhome broke down and they were forced to sell it and change their plans.
In 2005 Carl and Suzanne purchased a home in Owensboro, Kentucky. That same year Carl accepted the pastor’s position at Rockport Baptist Church in Rockport, Indiana. Carl and Suzanne worked hard at the church, building attendance and ministering to the people of the community.
Carl’s mother, Ruth, was a resident of Leisure Years in Owensboro, Kentucky, for several years, and he visited her as often as he could until she passed away in 2007.
In the summer of 2009, Suzanne began to have severe pain and in October of that year she was diagnosed with cancer and was told that she did not have long to live. She died a few short weeks later on Nov. 11, 2009. The entire family was able to be there to honor the life of Suzanne and to bring comfort to Carl during this difficult time.
Carl retired from pastoring in 2017, but went back to preach at Rockport Missionary Baptist Church on occasion until health problems in November 2023 prevented him from doing so.
Carl’s health continued to decline in 2024. His daughter Janet moved in with him and was instrumental in caring for him as his health deteriorated. Carl was in hospice care for several weeks and passed peacefully in his sleep at home on the morning of June 29, 2024.
Funeral services for Carl were held at James H Davis Funeral Home in Owensboro, Kentucky, with services presided by Rev. Travis Fox. Carl was laid to rest beside his beloved wife Suzanne at Fairmount Cemetery in Central City, Kentucky.
Carl was preceded in death by his parents James Earl “Babe” Boyd and Ruth Frances Walker, his wife Suzanne, and brothers James, David, and Robert. He is survived by his brothers Don and Ron Boyd, children Mark Allen Boyd, Janet Ruth Boyd, Carl Wayne Boyd and wife Chris, his grandchildren Ryan, Ellie, Alex, Tomara, Shalana, Carl, Cameron, Christian, Caitlin and Cali, great grandchildren Jackson, Dakota, Lea, David, Raven, and Zerxes, as well as numerous cousins, nephews and nieces.
During his lifetime, Carl had the opportunity to preach the gospel at over 400 churches in 10 different states. His love for Christ was the defining force of his life and he lived his life in service and love to others, a shining example of what a true Christian should be.
This article appears in Holiday Gift Guide 2024.