A man who served three terms on the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and one term on the Albemarle School Board has died at the age of 75. Kenneth C. Boyd left office at the end of 2015 after representing the Rivanna District as Supervisor for 12 years and moved to North Carolina sometime afterward, according to an obituary published in the Charlottesville Daily Progress.
Boyd is a native of Washington D.C. who moved to Albemarle County in the early 80’s for a job at Jefferson National Bank. He went into business for himself as a financial planner and got involved with politics soon after. Boyd was elected to the Rivanna District on the School Board in 1999. He defeated Democrat Peter Hallock in the 2003 race with 52.56 percent of the race and posted similar narrow victories in 2007 and 2011.
Supervisor Ned Gallaway said he first got involved with local politics in 2009 when he had an unsuccessful run for the School Board.
“As I began to engage I remember all of the players that were there at the time,” Gallaway said. “I eventually became elected to the School Board in 2011 and I have to say that all my interactions with Ken Boyd, even though from a political standpoint on every different ends of the spectrum, he always treated with respect.”
Supervisor Diantha McKeel served four terms on the School Board before her election to the Board of Supervisors in 2013. She served with Boyd during his term.
“One topic that I think Ken would really be happy about right now if he was in this community is our work around economic development,” Boyd said. “Because at that time when I was serving with him, we didn’t have an office of economic development, we didn’t have a focus on economic development. He was frustrated about that often.”
Supervisor Ann Mallek also had recollections of Boyd.
“He and I did not always agree,” Mallek said. “I think that would be fair. But he also was very careful to explain exactly what the reasons where why he felt a certain way.”
Mallek recalled her first year on the Board in 2008 and going through the large budget document. She said Boyd was chair at the time and answered all of her questions about the process.
“He was always very thoughtful and very helpful and I would say that the 2010 to 2014 Board was very collegial even though we did not agree,” Mallek said. “There was no bitterness and no semblance of any kind of irritation. Plenty of debate, and that’s good.”
A memorial service to his life will be held in Southport, North Carolina on March 18.
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