Sonny Boyd, 84, passed away on March 5, 2020, at his residence in Gilbert, Ariz., under the care of Hospice of the Valley and surrounded by his loving family.
Rosary and Celebration of Life Services were held at Horizon Funeral Care.
He was born on June 6, 1935, to Lloyd C and Adell (Bossingham) Boyd in Rosebud, South Dakota. He graduated from Mission High School in 1953 and from Huron College in 1957.
He married Winnifred (Yoyo) Cournoyer in 1952, and he married Shirley Frank Studenberg in 1968.
After college, Sonny taught high school and coached basketball at Marty Mission. He worked as a social worker for the State of South Dakota before moving to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Social Services Division in New Mexico.
He came back to South Dakota and served as assistant CAP director and education specialist for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and then as executive director of the Rosebud Housing Authority.
He also operated his ranch, Lazy SL, and a car dealership before locating in Rapid City and forming his own construction company, Thunderbolt Enterprises; he built houses on the Rosebud, Pine Ridge, and Eagle Butte Reservations.
In later years he thoroughly enjoyed being a substitute teacher for both the McLaughlin and Smee School Districts on the Standing Rock Reservation.
In 2010 he retired and moved to Gilbert, Ariz.
Sonny is survived by his wife, Shirley; children, Wayne (Kathy), Donnie (Alicia), Barb, Debbie (Clayton) Sully, and Kris (Kevin) Edwards; brothers Dick (Mary) and Bob (Barb); sisters Marie Waln, Carmen (Ed) Driving Hawk, and Donna Richards; his grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews and their families.
He was preceded in death by an infant son Charles, sons David and John; grandsons Darrin and Travis; brother Ed; infant sister Theresa; and his parents Lloyd and Adell Boyd.
Sonny was a great story-teller, a loving husband, and an advice-giving father and grandfather. He will be greatly missed.
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