Dr. F.J. Boyle was strong Springfield advocate

One of Springfield’s best advocates left us on Wednesday, Dec, 6, when Dr. Francis J. Boyle died.

 “I always liked to promote Springfield because I have had a good life here — the people have been good to me, and we’ve built a lot of friendships,” Dr. Boyle said as he spoke to the Springfield Chamber of Commerce  in February 2014 when he was presented the Spirit of Springfield award.

Dr. Boyle’s place of prominence in Springfield history and progress was his work in medicine and healthcare, but his involvement in his community was broad and included education, schools, church, politics, baseball and beyond.

Dr. Boyle chose Spring-field shortly after he completed medical school and his internship in Detroit, Michigan, where he grew up.  Dr. Boyle came to Springfield in 1959 to establish his medical practice.  Dr. Boyle and wife Glenna had three sons when they came to town.  Good schools were important to them and they liked small town living. At that same time, Springfield was building its Community Hospital and was searching for physicians. 

Dr. Boyle was a strong supporter of the merger of Springfield physicians into one clinic building that took place in 1982.  Dr. Boyle had practiced 25 years on his own (two years in Tracy and 23 years [1959-1982] in Springfield), and while it was difficult to give up his private practice and merge together, he felt that it was the only way to recruit more physicians.  He was always proud of the progress in developing Springfield’s health care industry (that includes the nursing home), into our community’s largest industry.  He strongly supported the affiliation with the Mayo Clinic Health System, that was also supported by 65% our community, as indicated by a survey at that time.  Dr. Boyle was medical director at Springfield Community Hospital for a number of years, and was medical director at St. John Nursing Home for 25 years.   He retired from active practice of medicine in 1995.

Dr. Boyle loved baseball. He played two years with the Springfield Tigers in 1959-1960, as first baseman and relief pitcher. He quit playing baseball so that he didn’t suffer a concussion or break fingers that would have been detrimental to his practice, and he then took up golf. However, he never gave up cheering for the Tigers in any form of athletics.  He and Glenna were some of Springfield’s most avid sports fans. They were seen at most Springfield schools’ sporting and extra curricular activities such as plays and concerts.

The Boyles were also seen at most community events whether at chamber of commerce gatherings, theatre productions, sporting events, political caucuses or fundraising.  

“I wasn’t born and raised here, but I really feel that Springfield is my home,” Dr.  Boyle said.

A complete obituary can be found on the Faith and Fellowship page in this newspaper.