It is with a heavy heart that Utah Public Radio notes the passing of Boyd Humpherys, long-time engineer and staff member.
Boyd was a Cache Valley native, graduating from South Cache High School. After a stint in the U.S. Navy, he graduated from Utah State Agricultural College in 1949 with a degree in electrical engineering which he immediately put to good use by working for eight years at KSL television. He was involved with the first telecast of “Music and The Spoken Word” as well as many in-studio productions and remote broadcasts.
In 1960, Boyd joined the staff at Utah State University and was instrumental in the creation of KUSU-TV, Channel 12, which broadcast educational television programming to the residents of Cache County from 1964 to through 1970. At the same time, Boyd designed and hand-built a new transmitter to increase KUSU-FM’s power from 10 watts to 1000 watts. In 1979, he was also involved in the establishment of NPR’s initial satellite downlink, NPR being the first radio network to distribute programing from coast-to-coast with KUSU being the flagship downlink facility. After KUSU-TV ceased broadcasting in 1970, Boyd continued as the chief of engineering over television production and radio until his retirement after 30 years of service.
Boyd enjoyed learning and experiencing new things. He acted as mayor of River Heights City, served two missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — one to Australia and the other to India — and loved the outdoors. Boyd had a unique sense of humor and was a friend to many. He is survived by his wife, Joan, eight children and their spouses, 42 grandchildren, over 100 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Boyd’s influence has been felt by many and he has left a marvelous posterity, both familial as well as being an inspiration to others.
Utah Public Radio celebrates a life well-lived: the life of Boyd Humpherys.
