The passing of Bill Boyes Sr.
The senior members, and for that matter, all members of APBA and Region 12 will mourn the passing of a very special person in the annuls of boat racing! Bill Boyes senior, at the age of 96 passed "over the bridge of life to a better place". Services for Bill Sr. will be held November 6th in St. George Utah. Bill Sr. was a very active promoter of boat racing through out his life, especially in SCSC. When I first met Bill Sr. he was chief referee at a Long Beach race, the year was 1967. My "jacket and helmet" was not up to his accepted standards, nor the standard set by APBA. I was new to the Los Angeles area and knew virtually no one to go to for help. Bill went out of his way to make sure I had acceptably safe equipment and was able to race that day. Later, as Bill Jr's room mate, we spent many a day having dinner at the Boyes home. Janet attended all the races and was a strong supporter. She always said "Rod, have you changed the spark plugs?" and Bill Jr. would always answer "mother please!" The family has always served APBA in a manner that should make us all proud of our organization. Bill Jr. and his wife Kay have learned well from Bill Sr. and his wife Janet as they are still very active in promoting APBA and the future of boat racing. :) Rod Zapf
