IN MEMORIAM
Remembering the Life of David Boyle Founding Faculty Member and Retired Associate Headmaster
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t. Margaret’s Episcopal School lost a muchbeloved school leader who made immeasurable impacts and contributions to the growth of the school for more than 30 years. David Boyle, founding faculty member, retired Associate Headmaster and Faculty Emeritus, passed away on Sunday, Nov. 19, from complications of pneumonia. Mr. Boyle joined St. Margaret’s as a faculty member in the fall of 1980, the second year of the school. He was a true servant leader who committed his life’s work to the mission of St. Margaret’s. In the early years, Mr. Boyle’s passion for education and dedication to the vision of St. Margaret’s was evident in the many roles he took on to support the young school’s growth and success. He taught math, science, sacred studies and physical education and coached the first two interscholastic sports, soccer and golf. When grade 9 was added in 1982, he also taught algebra and coached basketball. He was named Director of the Junior High, and then Middle School Principal, overseeing grades 6-8 upon a school restructuring in 1988. School-wide, Mr. Boyle led the intensive WASC and CAIS accreditation work from 1986 until his retirement, as well as campus emergency-preparedness planning. Throughout his tenure, Mr. Boyle was integrally involved in strategic planning and vision-setting for St. Margaret’s future. Mr. Boyle built the Middle School program with an intentional focus on the unique cognitive, social and emotional needs of middle school students. He handed the reins to Jeannine Clarke in 2004, and much of his vision and foundation remain today. Mr. Boyle is most recently remembered as the Upper School Principal, serving there until 2011.
“David saw the best in students, tempered with the reality that kids are fallible and need structure and space to develop their own voice, and excellent teachers, coaches and mentors to guide them,” Mrs. Clarke said. His immeasurable impact and contributions can be seen and felt everywhere you look: on the campus, in the faculty and classrooms,
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in St. Margaret’s standing as a leading academic institution, and most importantly, in the faces of the thousands of students, teachers, families and alumni whose lives he touched. Hundreds of members of the St. Margaret’s community, past and present faculty and staff, trustees, families, and alumni, filled St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church on December 2 to honor and say goodbye to Mr. Boyle at the memorial ceremony planned by his family. Eulogies were delivered by retired headmasters Markham Campaigne and Marcus Hurlbut, Mrs. Clarke and Upper School Director of Community Life Lora Allison. Head of School Will Moseley offered the Prayers of the People, and retired Lower School Principal Barbara Deubert, and Mr. Boyle’s niece, Rachel Bonhall, delivered the readings. “David was an incredible school leader. In the early years of the school, he did practically everything, and I can say without a doubt that St. Margaret’s would not be the institution that it is today without David Boyle,” Mrs. Clarke said in her eulogy. “He was a lifelong learner, and he was pushing the school to be more than even seemed possible in those early years. He was enrolling this tiny