Boyd M. Hamp, Jr.

HampBoyd older(May 18, 1923 – May 10, 2015)

Boyd M. Hamp, Jr. passed away May 10, 2015. He was born May 18, 1923, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Boyd M. and Pauline Baumert Hamp. He spent his childhood in Holly Oak, Delaware.

His first years of schooling were in a one building school house with a dividing wall between first and second grades and third and four grades. Fifth through ninth grades were at Mount Pleasant School in Bellefonte, Delaware. Boyd attended Pierre S. DuPont High School, graduating in January 1942. After graduation, he worked at Sun Building and Dry Dock Company in Chester, Pennsylvania.

Boyd enlisted in the U.S. Navy for six years and received his basic training (“boot camp”) at The Great Lakes Naval Training Facility in Illinois. After a seven day leave, he and a group of sailors were sent to Camp Le June, North Carolina Marine Corps Base and again had “boot camp” as taught by the Marines! After this basic training, their group was sent to Camp Pendleton Marine Station in San Diego, California, where they were issued Marine Corps uniforms! This group received advanced Marine Corps training and were integrated into the 4th Marine Division.

In 1943, they were loaded on board ship and sent to the South Pacific war zone. Boyd was part of the Marine landing on the Kwajalein Islands in January 1944. After these islands were secure, they were transferred to Maui, Hawaii, for additional training. In May 1944, the group was assigned to the landing on the Marianna Islands. On June 15Boyd was part of the invasion of Saipan and on June 16, he was severely wounded and was evacuated to the AIA Naval Hospital in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for recovery. In October 1944, he returned to his unit and spent the remainder of the war on the Islands of Tinian and Saipan.

Boyd returned to the mainland in December 1945. After a 30-day leave to see his parents, he was transferred to the Philadelphia Navy Yard and then to Treasure Island, California, to attend Fire Fighting School.

HampBoyd youngAfter completion of his training, Boyd was assigned to the USS Blue Ridge. His ship was then assigned to duty near Bikini Atom Bomb test during June and July of 1946. His ship returned to San Diego and Boyd transferred to the USS Rankin. The first stop was in Tsing Tao, China. After visiting other ports, Boyd returned to San Diego for schooling in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration.

Boyd went to Holyoke, Massachusetts, where he was married on May 17, 1947. After returning to San Diego, he was transferred to the USS Salamonie, a Navy tanker, in Tsing Tao, China. Various stops by the tanker included Singapore, Hong Kong, Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and on to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia. The USS Salamonie carried crude oil for distribution for other installations and other Navy ships. Boyd’s duty had taken him to Australia, New Zealand and many Pacific Islands. The home base for his ship was Yokosuka, Japan. Many trips were made from Japan to Saudi Arabia. Boyd was transferred from Yokohama to Treasure Island, CA. In October 1948, Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class was honorably discharged. He received many citations and medals, including a Purple Heart and Presidential Unit Citation.

Boyd then returned to his wife and they lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he studied at the University of Minnesota for over a year. He then contracted Mononucleosis. Because of his high temperature, he was admitted to the Fort Snelling VA Hospital where he spent several months.

After being released from the VA Hospital, the financial situation necessitated that he drop out College and look for work. His first job in Minneapolis was a food route salesman.

While living in Minneapolis, Boyd’s son was born on April 27, 1952. In 1953, Boyd purchased a house in Bloomington, Minnesota, where they lived for four years. In 1956, they moved to sunny California. (He was tired of the Minnesota winters!) Boyd worked for another food company with the territory being Long Beach, Lomita, San Pedro and Wilmington, California. In 1959, the family relocated to Garden Grove, where his daughter, Heidi was born on April 23, 1962. In 1968, Boyd resigned as a food salesman and took a job with the U.S. Postal Service delivering mail to Garden Grove.

Later in 1968, Boyd was divorced. In 1969, Boyd met Shirley Greer through a mutual friend. They went together for three years before being married on July 31, 1971. Shirley brought four children to the marriage, adding to the two Boyd had, for a total of eight family members.

In 1978, they purchased a home in Garden Grove. In 1982, he was promoted to Supervisor of Delivery and Collections for Huntington Beach. In June of 1986, Boyd retired from the U.S. Postal Service. In 1989, Shirley retired from The Northrop Corporation located in Anaheim.

In 1989, they purchased a motorhome and toured 38 states, including the Virginia and D.C. area, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and many other interesting stops. This tour lasted more than four months. During this “tour”, they discovered St. George, Utah. They fell in love with Southern Utah and had a home built on The Ridge in February 1992.They also took several cruises to interesting places.

Shortly after 1993, Shirley experienced several physical problems, including cancer, wheat intolerance and several mini strokes. In February 2002, Boyd and Shirley moved to the Paradise Canyon development. For the next several years Shirley’s health continued to decline and because of this Boyd could no longer give her the care she needed.

Shirley’s son, Scott, who has a medical background, asked that she be moved into Mokelumne Hill, California. Scott’s daughter-in-law is a CNA and she lived next door. This way Shirley would receive 24-hour care. Boyd agreed and she was flown to California on March 3, 2008. Boyd commuted from Utah to California until Shirley’s passing on July 27, 2008. Boyd continued to live in St. George, Utah.

Boyd is survived by  his son, Richard of Ramona, California; daughter, Heidi Mecham of Lindon, Utah; step-daughter, Cyndi Dowling of Bountiful, Utah; step-sons: Bradley Greer of Palos Verdes, California, and Scott Greer of Mokelumne Hill, California; and many grandchildren.

On May 10, 2015, Boyd died peacefully in his sleep.

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Metcalf Mortuary, 435-673-4221. For condolences, full obituary, and funeral listings please visit the Metcalf Mortuary website.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.