Robert Frederick Bovee

Robert Frederick Bovee, 82, loving husband and father, lontime teacher and civic leader, passed away on May 28, 2009 at Mercy Hospital in Grayling. Bob was born July 12, 1926 in Novi to Doanld Frederick Bovee and Katherine Louise Hammer. The family lived in Detroit and Bob graduated from Plymouth High School in 1943. He enlisted in the spring of 1944 and entered Central Michigan College under the Navy's V12 program. There, he met Fay Elaine Christensen through a friend in the spring of 1944 and the two married on Dec. 20, 1945 in Mt. Pleasant. Bob transferred to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. for one year and returned to Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois, where he was discharged in June 1946. On weekends, Bob would hitchhike to Mt. Pleasant to be with his wife Fay. A long-time teacher, Bob began substitute teaching in Walled Lake while attending the University of Michigan, and finally graduated from Central in 1949. He and Fay came to Grayling, where he taught math and science at the Grayling High School, directing school plays and helping with musicals, occasionally driving the school bus, teaching driver education, serving as a school liaison for the Ski Team at Grayling Winter Sports Park, scoring football and basketball games for many years, and working as a guidance counselor until 1978. He liked to help students and later went to work as a Crawford Country Probate Court Juvenile Officer and was deputized in 1978. Former school superintendent Joe Stripe said Bob was the best volunteer, always helping with any and all projects. A devoted civic leader, Bob joined the Kiwanis Club in March of 1951. He served as the organization's secretary for over 25 years, held the office of president, lieutenant governor of the division, served as a trustee on the Kiwanis Foundation of Michigan, and was honored by his club with a lifetime membership and as a Hixson fellow. He was one of the six founding trustees of Kirtland Community College in 1966 and, with the exception of two years, held the position for 39 years, serving as chairman of the board for 12 years. In 1969, he was elected to the City Council. He served on the Selective Service Board for 20 years, volunteered with RSVP, delivered Meals on Wheels, and was also a NOAA weather spotter and a member of the amateur HAM Radio Club. He liked computers, belonging to a club in the 1980s, and was also an avid woodworker, golfer, and gardener. He worked at Borcher's AuSable Canoe Livery, Sorenson's Sporting Goods, Hotel Shoppenagon, and Hunter's AuSable Dairy. In the early years of the AuSable River Canoe Marathon, he served as race secretary and called in times from various radio checkpoints. He enjoyed traveling with Fay; the couple went to Europe, Canada, and across the country. He is survived by his wife Fay Bovee, and his two daughters Billie Bovee Smith (Richard) of Saugerties, N.Y. and Dena Bovee (Bruce Goll) of Dublin, Ohio and three grandchildren, Peter Smith of Portland, Me. and Paul Smith of Waitsfield, Vt., and Doria Goll of Dublin, Ohio. In lieu of flowers family requests to consider memorial contribution to the following. The family has set up a scholarship fund at KCC for a nursing student ?" because of Bob's involvement in the college and as a special thanks to the many students and nurses who cared for him during his recent illness. Address: Kirtland Community College-Robert Bovee Scholarship Fund-10775 N. St. Helen Rd- Roscommon, MI 48653 Condolences may be sent to the family at www.sorensonlockwood.com. To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Robert Frederick Bovee, please visit our flower store.