Vida Mae Walker Boyt (1928-2013) - Find a Grave... (2024)

CARTERVILLE - Vida Mae Boyt, 84, passed away at 8:57 p.m. Saturday, June 15, 2013, in Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion.

Vida was born in a small house in Herrin on Dec. 4, 1928, the daughter of Ray and Faye (Perry) Walker.

During the Depression and war years of the late 1930s and early '40s, she attended school in South Bend, Ind. She then moved back to Southern Illinois and resided in Marion, Metropolis, Brookport and Carterville until her death.

She was united in marriage to Blanchard Jones in March of 1948, and they had three sons before his untimely passing in 1955. Vida later was united in marriage to Jack Boyt in August of 1963 and was happily married for the next 38 years until his death.

After raising her boys, Vida went back to school at Shawnee Community College. She proudly became an LPN and worked in hospitals and nursing homes until her retirement.

Shaped by a depression, a world war and personal loss, Vida was to her family a truly unique combination of strength of character and the compassion needed to be the matriarch of her family.

Survivors include her sons and daughters-in-law, Gary Jones and wife, Tammy, of Carterville, David Jones and wife, Angie, of Overland Park, Kan., and Steve Jones and wife, Norma, of West Frankfort; six grandchildren, Savana Jones, Emily Adkinson, Heather Slover, Erica Rigdon, Tonya Wyciskalla and Chris Eaton, to whom she was affectionately known as "Meme"; 10 great-grandchildren, Josey and Gracey Slover, Olivia and Page Rigdon, Mickey, Jessica, Nickolas and Joseph Wyciskalla and Sofia and Isaac Eaton; and two stepsons, Bill Boyt of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Charles Boyt of Huntington, W.Va.

She was preceded in death by both of her husbands, Blanchard Jones and Jack Boyt; parents, Faye and Dave Soos; grandparents, Dora and Emmitt Perry; and two stepchildren, Bob Boyt and Shirley Davis.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 20, in Wilson-McReynolds Funeral Home, 900 N. Court St., in Marion with the Rev. Rick Pierce presiding. Interment will follow in Maplewood Cemetery in Marion. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, at the funeral home.

For those who prefer, memorial contributions may be made to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Memorial contribution envelopes will be available at the funeral home or may be mailed in care of Wilson-McReynolds Funeral Home, P.O. Box 370, Marion, IL 62959.

For additional information, to leave an online condolence of memory or to light a candle in memory, visit www.wilsonmcreynolds.com.

Published in The Southern Illinoisan on June 18, 2013

CARTERVILLE - Vida Mae Boyt, 84, passed away at 8:57 p.m. Saturday, June 15, 2013, in Heartland Regional Medical Center in Marion.

Vida was born in a small house in Herrin on Dec. 4, 1928, the daughter of Ray and Faye (Perry) Walker.

During the Depression and war years of the late 1930s and early '40s, she attended school in South Bend, Ind. She then moved back to Southern Illinois and resided in Marion, Metropolis, Brookport and Carterville until her death.

She was united in marriage to Blanchard Jones in March of 1948, and they had three sons before his untimely passing in 1955. Vida later was united in marriage to Jack Boyt in August of 1963 and was happily married for the next 38 years until his death.

After raising her boys, Vida went back to school at Shawnee Community College. She proudly became an LPN and worked in hospitals and nursing homes until her retirement.

Shaped by a depression, a world war and personal loss, Vida was to her family a truly unique combination of strength of character and the compassion needed to be the matriarch of her family.

Survivors include her sons and daughters-in-law, Gary Jones and wife, Tammy, of Carterville, David Jones and wife, Angie, of Overland Park, Kan., and Steve Jones and wife, Norma, of West Frankfort; six grandchildren, Savana Jones, Emily Adkinson, Heather Slover, Erica Rigdon, Tonya Wyciskalla and Chris Eaton, to whom she was affectionately known as "Meme"; 10 great-grandchildren, Josey and Gracey Slover, Olivia and Page Rigdon, Mickey, Jessica, Nickolas and Joseph Wyciskalla and Sofia and Isaac Eaton; and two stepsons, Bill Boyt of Colorado Springs, Colo., and Charles Boyt of Huntington, W.Va.

She was preceded in death by both of her husbands, Blanchard Jones and Jack Boyt; parents, Faye and Dave Soos; grandparents, Dora and Emmitt Perry; and two stepchildren, Bob Boyt and Shirley Davis.

Services will be at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 20, in Wilson-McReynolds Funeral Home, 900 N. Court St., in Marion with the Rev. Rick Pierce presiding. Interment will follow in Maplewood Cemetery in Marion. Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, at the funeral home.

For those who prefer, memorial contributions may be made to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Memorial contribution envelopes will be available at the funeral home or may be mailed in care of Wilson-McReynolds Funeral Home, P.O. Box 370, Marion, IL 62959.

For additional information, to leave an online condolence of memory or to light a candle in memory, visit www.wilsonmcreynolds.com.

Published in The Southern Illinoisan on June 18, 2013