In Loving Memory of Gary Lee Boyer

May 26, 1946 - August 9, 2026

Teacher • Rancher • Fisherman • Craftsman • Husband • Daddy • Grandpa Doot Doot • Friend

Gary Lee Boyer passed away on August 9, 2026, at the age of 80, leaving behind a lifetime of love, laughter, lessons, hard work, and memories that will live on through generations of family, friends, neighbors, and former students.

There are many ways to describe Gary. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle and friend. He was a gifted teacher, rancher, fisherman, woodsman, craftsman and cook. He had an unforgettable sense of humor, tremendous patience, a strong will, and a remarkably tender heart.

But perhaps the simplest and truest way to describe him is this: Gary was a good man.

He spent his life teaching, building, fixing, feeding, helping, laughing with, and loving the people around him. He left nearly everything - and everyone - he touched a little better than he found them.

His Montana Beginning - A Son, Brother, Uncle & Family Man

Gary was born May 26, 1946, in Miles City, Montana, to Mildred and Harold Boyer. He and his older sister, Joan Newman, were only 18 months apart and grew up as one another's earliest playmates and friends. Their Montana childhood was filled with farm chores, 4-H animals, roaming the hills, swimming in the creek and building playhouses. As Joan remembers, "Money was short, but love and fun were abundant."

Gary graduated from Forsyth High School, where athletics and woodworking became important parts of his life. For his senior project, he built Joan a handmade cedar chest, and he built his mother a beautiful sewing machine desk - early examples of the craftsmanship that would become such an important part of his life.

Gary remained a devoted son and brother throughout his life. After his father died, he made sure his mother remained included in family life, bringing the children and grandchildren to visit and taking her along on family adventures. One treasured photograph even captures Mildred, walker and all, at the top of a mountain.

When Joan's husband, Rod, was home on hospice, Gary sat with him for hours, talking, calming him and simply staying beside him through difficult days. Years later, when Gary spent weeks in a Missoula hospital, Joan returned that same love, visiting nearly every day with Cokes because the hospital only had Pepsi, along with Jimmy John's sandwiches and pizza. Sometimes the deepest love between a brother and sister was simply showing up for one another.

Gary also shared a special relationship with his nephew, Brady Wood. Even in Gary's later months, they could sit together and talk shop - building, fencing, cooking and the practical things Gary knew so well. Brady and his wife Elaine visited Gary on his 80th birthday, creating one more treasured family memory.

A Teacher at Heart

Gary attended Montana State University in Bozeman, where he played football for a short time and earned his teaching degree.

While attending college, Gary also worked at a pizza restaurant in Bozeman to help put himself through school. No one could have known that little college job would eventually contribute to one of the Boyer family's most beloved traditions.

Gary followed in his mother's footsteps and became an educator, specializing in Wood Shop and Industrial Technology. He later shared his love of athletics with students as a wrestling, football, and basketball coach. And he was exceptionally good at it.

Teaching was never simply Gary's occupation. Gary was a teacher at heart.

For more than 30 years, he taught young people how to work with their hands, solve problems, think things through, take pride in their work, and keep trying when something didn't turn out correctly the first time.

Gary helped design and establish several school shop programs throughout his career, beginning with the very first teaching position he accepted after college. During his career, he was also recognized as Teacher of the Year.

Gary's teaching years took him through several Montana communities, including Rosebud, Whitewater, Arlee and Victor, before he eventually finished his teaching career at Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Montana.

Over more than three decades in education, hundreds - and very likely thousands - of students passed through Mr. Boyer's wood shop. There are undoubtedly former students today who can build, repair, measure, create, problem-solve, or teach someone else a skill because Mr. Boyer first showed them how. That may be one of the greatest legacies any teacher can leave.

Gary & Donna Monroe - A Love That Lasted 56 Years

In 1973, Gary and Donna moved with their three children to their home ranch north of Darby, purchased from Donna's parents, John and Blanche Monroe. The ranch was never simply a piece of land. It was home. It was where their children grew up, grandchildren made memories, family gathered, meals were shared, work was done, and generations learned what it meant to be a family.

For decades, the home ranch remained at the center of the Boyer family story. It was filled with cattle, sheep and horses; following the sports of their children and grandchildren, and later their great-grandchildren; square dancing; fishing stories; poker with buddies; family traditions; laughter; and memories made to last a lifetime. The home ranch remains part of the family today, where their daughter Rhonda and granddaughter Miranda continue to live with their families. There is something especially meaningful about knowing another generation still calls home the place Gary and Donna chose so many years ago.

Donna's Aunt Teen and Uncle Pete Whiteford built their cabin two miles outside Dillon, Montana, and many adventures followed there, including rock hunting and fishing with them. In 1998, Aunt Teen joined Uncle Pete in a love story all their own, and the cabin was left to their niece Donna. Gary and Donna continued traveling back and forth to Dillon, taking good care of the much-loved cabin and enjoying the place that held so many family memories.

Friends who wintered in Arizona kept telling Gary and Donna they should start going south to Yuma. The family joke became that they did go south - just two hours south, to their mile-high cabin near Dillon, exactly where Gary and Donna loved to be.

Gary's big red truck and the four-wheeler he affectionately called his 'iron horse' became part of an ever-loving journey through the massive mountains and lakes of Beaverhead County. Eventually, Gary and Donna purchased the home and land next door to the cabin. There was room for Donna's five horses, and Gary built his dream wood shop there. Dillon became their full-time home and the setting for another wonderful chapter of their life together.

With a horse in the front section of the horse trailer and Gary's iron horse in the back, countless adventures took them high into the mountains. One of their most beloved places was Badger Pass. Gary would laugh when Donna told him, 'You have to stay on the road, but I'll beat you to the meeting point,' before she galloped cross-country through pine trees and sagebrush while Gary followed the road. They took turns winning the race.

One day at the campground, Gary and Donna wanted a picture together. Donna set the timer on her camera on the hood of the truck. Gary told her, 'You can't get here fast enough.' Donna raced Koochief toward him, surprised by a jump over a campfire ring, then spun her horse around so they could wave for the camera. It became one of those forever memories they both loved - adventurous, funny and completely Gary and Donna.

Their 56 years together were filled with adventures both with their family and on their own: raising children, building a home, working side by side, following generations through sports and life, and still finding new roads, mountain trails, lakes and memories to share. Together they built a marriage and a family rooted in love, loyalty, humor, hard work and the simple joy of being together.

Daddy

For his daughter Rhonda, being chosen by Gary became one of the defining gifts of her life. The day Gary adopted her and her brother Randall remained one of the most important days she could remember. She never viewed Gary as anything other than her father. He was simply Daddy.

Before Gary passed away, Rhonda had the precious opportunity to tell him exactly what being his daughter had meant to her. She told him he was the best father she could ever have dreamed of and that so much of the woman she became was built upon the foundation he had given her.

His lessons weren't only found in the things he said. They were in the way he lived - with kindness, strength, patience, humor, and an unwavering commitment to his family.

She told him that being chosen by him and getting to call him Dad was one of the greatest gifts of her life. He gave her security, joy, belonging, and a father.

Gary also taught Rhonda something that would stay with her for the rest of her life: that a man can stay, love you unconditionally, and choose you again and again through every season of life. Through the way he loved her, he showed her what it meant to feel safe, secure, and truly loved.

And perhaps one of the greatest gifts of all is that those words were not left unsaid. Before Gary left this life, he knew. He knew how deeply his daughter loved him. He knew she considered him her hero. And he knew how incredibly proud she was to be his daughter.

A Father's Hands

For his daughter Renee, Dad was a ray of sunshine - a man who seemed to find joy wherever he was and in whatever moment life gave him.

But some of Renee's most treasured memories are of something very simple: her dad's hands.

"Dad was always a ray of sunshine wherever he was and found the joy in every moment. He was the first man who loved me, held my hand, and picked me up when I fell. Those hands taught me everything I know. They made me feel safe."

Those same hands could create extraordinary things. Gary was a gifted woodsman and craftsman, and Renee had the privilege of working alongside her dad on several woodworking projects.

After the fires of 2000, Renee and Gary made a trip up to Sula in search of the perfect mountain mahogany timber to build a log bed. Together, father and daughter searched until they found what they were looking for.

What emerged was a one-of-a-kind, beautifully finished piece of art. But its greatest value could never be measured by the wood from which it was made. It was the hours Renee spent beside her dad, learning from him and creating something together with the same hands that had once held hers when she was a little girl. It became a memory she will treasure forever.

"Rise & Shine!"

Gary wasn't only a teacher at school. He taught his family constantly, although they may not always have realized they were being taught.

Anyone who grew up in the Boyer household could expect to hear Gary's unmistakable voice coming through the house every morning: "RISE & SHINE!" Breakfast was ready, school was coming, and whether you were ready or not, the Boyer household was officially awake.

Today, those two ordinary words carry something entirely different. They carry Dad's voice.

Grandpa Doot Doot

Eventually, Gary received another title - one that perhaps suited him better than any professional award ever could. To his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, he was Grandpa Doot Doot.

And Grandpa Doot Doot continued doing what Gary had done throughout his life: he taught.

One of his greatest loves was fishing, especially fly fishing, and Gary passed that love down through his family. He taught his children to fish, then his grandchildren, and eventually his great-grandchildren - four generations sharing something he loved.

But like so many things Gary taught, fishing was never only about fishing. It was about patience, being outside, learning how to do something correctly, and mostly, time together.

Grandpa Doot Doot - Through His Granddaughters' Eyes

To Miranda, Lauren and Lacey, Grandpa Doot Doot was a teacher, mentor, fishing partner, card player, cook and one of their greatest supporters. Miranda remembers riding beside him in the tractor while he hayed, bringing in cows during calving, tagging along in his little Isuzu and never starting the day without hotcakes and chokecherry syrup. She was his shadow, even in his shop classroom, where he let her work on technology projects. As an adult, she treasured their conversations about parenting, technology, school, cooking and life. "He was a man with a huge heart and loved his family beyond measure." She was especially grateful for the bond Gary shared with her husband, Matt, and their children.

Lauren credits Grandpa with giving her a lifelong love of fishing. From walking small creeks catching brookies to trolling lakes for big browns and rainbows, some of her greatest memories were made beside him. They always planned for Gary to teach her to fly fish. Although they never got that chance, Lauren is learning now in his honor: "Anytime I go fishing, I know Grandpa's spirit will be right there with me."

Lacey remembers picking chokecherries for Grandpa's famous syrup, catching a record 38 fish in one day, playing Canasta every night on family vacations and the wooden piggy banks he made for the girls. Grandpa liked to tell everyone to "suck it up," she remembers, but underneath it all, "he was a real softy."

Grandpa Doot Doot - Through Logan & Allison's Eyes

Great-grandchildren Logan and Allison knew Grandpa Doot Doot in their own special ways. Logan remembers Gary teaching him to fish, taking him along on his "iron horse" to change sprinklers and talking endlessly about football, basketball, baseball and Gary's years of coaching. One of their more recent memories was watching Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever together and sharing plenty of laughs.

Allison remembers being Grandpa's "little ballerina nurse," sitting with him when he wasn't doing well and talking about school, sports and everyday life. She remembers riding on his lap in his wheelchair, making his special homemade pizza and the first time he showed her his wood shop. "I know he is in a better place and held on for as long as he could for everyone he loved."

Gary's Famous Pizza

Gary often showed his love through food. And if Gary Boyer made you pizza, you knew you were loved.

Those college years working in a Bozeman pizza restaurant paid dividends for generations because Gary became famous within his family for his homemade pizza.

There were rules to making a Gary Boyer pizza-and they mattered. Most importantly, every topping had to overlap the next, covering every inch of dough so that each bite was packed with savory flavor. And, of course, the cheese had to reach every corner. There would be no bare spots, no forgotten bites, and certainly no sad, empty crust on a Gary Boyer pizza.

He made those pizzas for his children and their friends, and eventually for his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

And even later in life, when Gary was using his wheelchair, the pizza-making didn't stop. Gary would still make the crust himself and then take his rightful place supervising his daughter Rhonda, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren as they finished making the pizza exactly the way Grandpa Doot Doot believed it should be made.

It was another example of Gary doing what he had done his entire life: he taught. Even from his wheelchair, he was passing something down to another generation.

It was never really about pizza. It was Dad cooking. It was Grandpa Doot Doot supervising. It was children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered around him. It was laughter. It was family. It was home.

Gary also shared a special friendship with Rick Flaherty, Rhonda's fiancé. In Gary's later years, Rick helped make sure there were still adventures to be had - from van rides to Butte to the unforgettable "charades" that sometimes came with trips to the medical supply store. They shared plenty of laughter along the way, but more importantly, they became true friends. Rick was there to help Gary get out, enjoy life and make even an ordinary outing into another story worth telling.

A Life That Knew Both Love and Loss

Gary and Donna shared 56 years of marriage - a lifetime of building a home and family together.

Their life held tremendous happiness, but it also asked them to endure losses no parents or grandparents should have to face. Their son Randall Boyer passed away 43 years before Gary. Five years before Gary's passing, the family experienced another heartbreaking loss when Gary's grandson AJ Jenkins passed away.

Randall and Andrew remained forever part of Gary's family and forever part of his heart.

Gary understood grief. He understood that life could change without warning and that some losses never completely leave us. But those losses did not define him.

Even through profound sorrow and later declining health, Gary maintained one of the qualities his family admired most: his positive attitude. As Renee described him, Dad remained "a ray of sunshine" who found joy in the moments life gave him.

He continued to laugh. He continued to teach. He continued to cook. He continued to love. And he continued to find reasons to enjoy the people around him.

In his final days, Gary remained where he belonged - at home. Donna cared for him there with the same devotion that had carried them through 56 years of marriage. Gary passed away peacefully in his sleep at home, surrounded by the love of his family and the life they had built together.

His Family

Gary is survived by his beloved wife of 56 years, Donna; daughters Rhonda Boyer Dolcater and Renee Boyer Morrison; grandchildren Miranda Simmons, Lauren Dolcater and Lacey Dolcater; great-grandchildren Logan Simmons and Allison Simmons; his sister Joan Newman; and nephew Brady Wood, and many extended family members, friends, neighbors, and generations of former students.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Mildred and Harold Boyer; his brother-in-law, Monte Monroe; his beloved son, Randall Boyer; and his grandson, Andrew James (AJ) Jenkins.

His children came. His grandchildren came. His great-grandchildren came. His little ballerina nurse came and sat beside him. And through it all, Donna was caring for Gary at home along with their family and their dear neighbor friends, Rick and Heidi Schwant, who became family as well. They talked about school and sports and life. They made pizza. They remembered. And sometimes they simply stayed.

The Hands That Built a Life

For 80 years, Gary Lee Boyer's hands built things.

The things Gary built from wood may someday weather with time. Fences will eventually need repairing. And knowing fishermen, some of Grandpa Doot Doot's fishing stories may get a little bigger with every retelling.

But the things Gary built inside people will remain.

They will remain when his granddaughter stands beside the water, learning to fly fish and knowing Grandpa's spirit is there beside her. They will remain when someone walks a small creek looking for brookies. They will remain when another generation makes homemade pizza and remembers that the meat better reach all the way to the crust.

They will remain when someone makes hotcakes and remembers Grandpa's chokecherry syrup. They will remain when cards are dealt for a game of Canasta. They will remain when a former student picks up a tool and remembers something Mr. Boyer taught them decades ago.

And sometimes, they will appear in the simplest moments. Maybe early one morning, when one of his children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren hears his voice somewhere deep within a memory: "Rise & Shine."

And for just a moment, he'll be right there again.

Daddy. Grandpa Doot Doot. Gary.

A devoted husband. A loving father. A treasured brother. A beloved grandfather and great-grandfather. A gifted teacher. A rancher. A fisherman. A woodsman and craftsman, and a great friend.

A man who might tell you to "suck it up" while everyone who knew him understood that underneath it all, he was a real softy.

A man with incredible patience, an unforgettable sense of humor, strong hands, and an enormous heart.

Gary Lee Boyer spent his life teaching others how to build things that would last.

But the greatest things he built weren't made from wood. They were the people who knew they were safe in his hands, the family who knew they were loved, and the generations who will carry a piece of him with them wherever they go.

That was Gary's greatest work. And that will last forever.

Graveside Service

Graveside services will be held at Mountain View Cemetery in Dillon, Montana, on September 24, 2026, at 1:30 p.m.