Feb 12, 2004

“It’s my job”
Almaden’s Bob Boydston takes his role in the community seriously—despite the pay

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

With a history rich in service to his country, family and community, 79-year-old Bob Boydston now fills his retirement years with a quest for community service and philanthropy. It’s a luxury he says that comes on the heels of smart investments and a love for crunching numbers—a luxury that enables him to focus on the job rather than the pay.

His investments have done very well, thanks in part to his experience with problem solving and innovative financial system programming—one career that led to another over the years as he segued from a chemical engineer to an investment advisor focused on creating formidable portfolios for clients.

Born in 1925 in Freeport, Ill., Boydston’s family moved to Chicago when he was 6-months old. He later attended the Illinois Institute of Technology as a chemical engineering student before enlisting in the Air Force in 1943. “With 50 percent of the population enlisted during the war, you knew when you turned 18 that you were going to be in the military,” he said. “I picked the Air Force because I always wanted to be a pilot.”

Although never deployed during the war, Boydston saw his share of battles in his own right, having experienced two forced landings as a cadet—one that by all accounts should have killed him.

In a journal entry, Boydston remembers the events of June 28, 1944 all too well—events that he says greatly affected his cadet career and his life. “Shortly after leaving the ground, my engine died completely,” he wrote. “When I looked for a landing location, I could see only solid treetops ahead. I only had about 100 feet of altitude. I was going to have to crash and had no more than 15 seconds to decide how.”

Boydston attempted to fly between two trees in an effort to shear off the wings to absorb the energy when the right wing tip struck the ground. As a result, the airplane cartwheeled and disintegrated.

With less than a 10 percent chance of surviving such an accident, survive he did—but not before suffering a skull fracture, almost losing his right eye from metal fragments that had logged in it, and discovering that his nose had been severed from his face. He spent almost four months in the hospital recovering from his injuries. “They gave me a new nose,” he joked. “I had a big nose and that one got shortened. I came out better than before.”

Although told he would never fly again, Boydston was determined to prove the flight surgeon wrong and earn his wings. After leaving the hospital, he spent three weeks on sick leave playing ping-pong in an effort to regain muscle control and visibility in his eye. Persistence paid off and he was put back on flight status.

Just three months after his accident and two days back in the air, a second forced landing found Boydston revisiting the memory of his first, but instinct, coupled with the fortitude not to repeat the past proved the victor as he landed safely in a small field. Five months later, after nearly 400 hours of flight time, he earned his coveted wings—and was days away from a B-24 bombing assignment in the Mariana Islands when the war ended.

“I went up to the edge of it,” said Boydston. “I got my wings the same week they dropped the atomic bomb.”

Even though the war ended before he had a chance to see combat, Boydston admits not having to experience the “gruesome stuff” colors things a bit and he has a profound admiration for those who did. “In a way we felt kind of like we cheated somebody,” he began. “We took the training and didn’t have to deliver on it—but we were there and ready to go.”

Boydston later returned home to resume his education and received a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering before continuing on to the University of Chicago to earn a masters degree in business administration.

While in college, he met his wife Adele at a dance during a family vacation in Michigan. “We danced a lot that summer and unlike other summer romances that never last, this one did,” he said. They married in June 1948.

Boydston says his marriage made a huge impact on his academic achievement. “I actually became a good student,” he said. “With us, it was about doing things together as a team.”

The couple settled down and had two children. In 1964 a heart operation took the life of their 11-year-old daughter and devastated both of them. “It was a big blow because she was such a good kid,” Boydston replied. “It was the first time in my life I felt like a loser—a very hard thing to understand.”

Seeing the need for change, Boydston accepted a transfer to IBM in San Jose and moved his family to Almaden in 1965. He was soon given the opportunity to purchase company stock at a discount and yearned to learn more about the market in an effort to maximize his meager portion of the company. His experience in market planning and financial system programming turned out to be very profitable and his forte began to develop around financial analysis. “I liked problem solving,” he said.

The next three years were spent researching the stock market during lunch hours, where he developed a formula that would calculate a stock’s intrinsic value [actual worth]. In 1980, Boydston put his model into practice—buying stocks at a discount and reaping the rewards. His success did not go unnoticed and others began to look to him for investment advice. Today, he and his wife Adele continue to serve as advisors for their clients and their fee for services rendered is a donation of 10 percent of the profits to a charity of their choosing.

To Boydston, it’s all about satisfaction. “By putting time into the community and using my financial resources, it feels like a rounded life to me,” he says. “I try to do as well as I can because I can put it into good places.”

Last year, the couple established the Robert E. and Adele M. Boydston Foundation and have already awarded over $46,000 in grants to educational, artistic and environmental organizations, including the Illinois School of Technology, University of Chicago, KQED, KCSM, The San Jose Reparatory Theater, San Jose Taiko, the Humane Society, Amnesty International, Sempervirens, and Guide Dogs for the Blind. “It has allowed me a lot of freedom to make financial contributions,” he admits. “I lead a simple life. “Our income is way over our expenses and I’d rather give it away now. It’s much more fun.”

A self-proclaimed “natural treasurer,” Boydston’s role in the Almaden community began seven years ago as treasurer for the Almaden Valley Community Association [AVCA]. “That’s when I started to became very interested in community affairs,” he said.

With a head full of ideas, motivation for change and a reputation for frugality, Boydston accepted the position of president in 2003 and began turning the association into a well-oiled machine. He reduced club expenses by over two thirds—streamlining operations by revamping their Web site, as well as using e-mail and the media for information as opposed to a costly quarterly newsletter.

Boydston also serves on the transportation committee, but admits the driving force for him lies in maintaining the association Web site, which gets over 66,000 hits each day. “It’s like running a newspaper,” he claims. “You’ve got to keep it current. People want to know what’s going on with issues such as traffic and that’s my specialty.”

After the 1989 earthquake, AVCA worked with the Red Cross to fund and install three ARKS in preparation for future emergencies. Boydston served as treasurer from 1997-2001, and remained responsible for the ARK program through 1998.

Several hotly debated issues have surfaced during Boydston’s reign and he admits he hasn’t always been popular with the stand they have taken on some issues, but insists that it is all part of his job.

“Controversy is good for attendance,” he said. “One in particular was the Calpine issue. We had to yell for order at that meeting. We did a lot of research on that and ended up ‘not opposed.’ We were proud of the work we did on that. My position is to take a position. It makes the people react and stimulates public discourse.”

Other contentious issues have included the drive-thru at McDonalds and the recent development at Almaden Road and Barnes Lane, in which the association again opted for the “not opposed” position—much to the chagrin of residents who felt betrayed. “There was a lot of controversy, even within our own board,” he admitted. “We never told them we’d support them. We said we would look into it and then take a position. Many of the arguments simply were not valid.”

When not debating issues that will affect the community, working on the association website or assisting clients with their portfolios, Boydston and his wife can be found working with the Red Cross, writing letters for Amnesty International, or spending one day each month with members of Citizens Who Care, picking up litter on Almaden Expressway. Adele also works as a docent for the Quicksilver Museum in New Almaden.

Boydston plans to retire from his position with AVCA next year as he feels the board needs a constant influx of new blood, but says there’s still work to do before he leaves. “There are two things that I judge myself on,” he concedes. “Is the organization better as I leave than when I started and am I leaving in place an organization that will carry on and not miss a beat? I believe so.”