Isabel Withycombe Boyd, 90, died at Mount Nittany Medical Center on Sunday, May 23, 2010. Her daughter and grandson were with her at the time.
Isabel was born on December 2, 1919 at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station in Union, Oregon. Her mother, Mabel Elsie Hutchinson Withycombe, was a daughter of Isabel Asbury Hutchinson, a relative of the first American leader of the Methodist Church Bishop Francis Asbury, and William Hutchinson, who walked the Oregon Trail from Illinois to Oregon with his parents in the mid-1800's. Isabel's father, Robert Withycombe, was the director of the Experiment Station, and was the son of Oregon Governor James Withycombe.
Isabel was the second of four children: older brother Robert Withycombe, who passed away in 2008, younger brother Dr. James Withycombe who survives in La Grande OR, and youngest sister Carolyn Withycombe Carothers, who passed away in 2009.
When Isabel was 12 years old, their father died and the family moved into the Union home of their aunt, Dora Hutchinson. That homestead is still occupied by family members. While residing there, Isabel was graduated from Union High School.
She then attended Oregon State University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics. She joined the sorority, Alpha Xi Delta, where she enjoyed many wonderful times with her friends. It was a sorority sister who arranged a blind date for Isabel, when she first met Charles Alexander Boyd, a master's candidate also attending OSU. After graduation from OSU in 1941, Isabel headed to Madison WI to join Chuck, who by that time was working on his PhD from the University of Wisconsin. The couple was married on June 20, 1941.
The next 25 years of their life together took them back and forth across the country as Chuck was employed as a scientist in several capacities. They lived in Cumberland MD, Chicago IL, Frederick MD, back to Madison WI, Washington DC, and Westtown PA. In 1966, their family, which had grown to number five, moved to Stormstown PA, when Chuck become employed at Penn State University. Chuck passed away in 1980. In 1986, Isabel moved to State College PA, where she lived with her daughter and grandson. In 2009, she moved into Greenhills Village where she was very happy and well cared for.
Throughout her married life, Isabel was a homemaker. She raised three children, Susan, Charles, and Elizabeth. She provided a wonderful, loving home for her family. She participated in many of their activities, not the least of which included serving as both a Cub Scout leader and a Girl Scout leader, the latter of which continued even after her children were no longer involved. She was also an excellent cook, whose pies especially will always be remembered by her family.
Isabel is survived by daughter Elizabeth Withycombe Boyd "Libby" Gretzler and her husband, Bob, of State College PA; grandson Adam Boyd Kerstetter also of State College PA; daughter Susan Isabel Boyd and her husband, Ira Cohen, of Union OR; grandson Eli Boyd Cohen of La Grande OR; granddaughter Dora Boyd Cohen of Moscow ID; son Charles Robert Boyd and his wife, Sandra Boysen, of Rochester NY. A step-grandson, Brian Gretzler, lives in Norfolk VA with his wife, Julie, and daughter, Lauren.
Isabel's family invites friends to join them in a memorial celebration on Sunday, June 27, 2010, at 2:30 pm, at the Mark D. Heintzelman Funeral Home on the Benner Pike, State College.
A guest book can be signed or condolences sent to the family at www.heintzelman.com.