Boyd Daniel Young

December 22, 1939 - March 11, 2019

Boyd Daniel Young, Sr. was born December 22, 1939 to Homer Hodges Young and Maude Hare Young in Evadale, Texas. Boyd attended his early years of school at Evadale, TX but graduated from high school in 1957 at Silsbee High School, Silsbee, TX.
Boyd moved to New Orleans, LA straight out of high school going to work for the Civil Service. But he soon became home sick and returned to TX. He began working for the Eastex, Inc. Papermill in 1960 in Evadale, TX.
In 1961, Boyd married Charlie Faye Dickerson and they made their home in Evadale.
Boyd became interested in the workers' union and started a long career in union service. He was first shop steward, then elected Union President of his Local 801. In 1973 he went to work for the UPIU as union organizer and then Region VI Representative. Boyd was elected Vice President & Regional Director of Region VI in 1988. He maintained his office in Beaumont, TX for several years.
Boyd was elected President of the United Paperworkers International Union in September 1996. The headquarters office was located in Nashville, TN so he and Charlie Faye moved. Boyd consistently worked to increase workers' bargaining power. In an effort to do this, he led his union through a merger with the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers (OCAW) in 1999, creating the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE). Boyd then became the President of the new union, which merged with the Steelworkers in 2005.
Boyd was responsible for creating the union's Emergency Response Team, which provides members, families and co-workers with immediate assistance after life-altering workplace injuries and fatalities.
He also served as vice president of the AFL-CIO.
He felt that he had seen the union become the strongest and best able to represent the people in the plants that he had always fought for. Believing it was time for new people to take over the work, he retired in July 2005.
Boyd loved to tinker on old cars and owned 2 antique cars. He was involved in the car shows in the area and was a member of the Gear Heads Car Club.
He was a great handyman and could do almost anything with his hands. He loved working in his yard and always loved it when someone would comment on how nice it looked.
When he learned that he had a very serious illness, he and Charlie Faye decided to move closer to their only child, Boyd Daniel Young, Jr.
Boyd is predeceased by his father and mother and a brother, Homer Talmadge Young.
He left this life on Monday, March 11, 2019 and is survived by his wife of over 58 years; their son, Boyd Daniel Young, Jr.; daughter-in-law, Anne; sister-in-law, Donna Diamant and her husband Andy; a niece, Margaret Naquin of Vidor, Texas;l and several nieces and nephews.
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He was so beloved by his wife and son and will be missed forever.