Happy 100th birthday to Clarence “Pappy” Boynton, a resident of Arbor Terrace Peachtree City. He celebrated his centennial on Friday, July 31, with a small gathering of family at the community.
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Boynton was born in 1920, in Flint, Ga., in a home his family built in the 1870s. A standout on the gridiron, he was selected as a member of the 1939 Georgia High School “All-Star Football Squad” from Albany, Ga. He then went on to play with the 1941 Mercer University football team.
World War II cut Boynton’s college football career short. He served as a captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps and flew a C-47. After the war, he graduated from Auburn University and joined the Federal Aviation Administration, where he spent the rest of his career.
It was at training at the FAA that he earned the nickname “Pappy” – partly because he was one of the older members of the training class and also because his last name sounds similar to that of WWII flying ace Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. (Some may remember the late 1970s TV show inspired by Boyington’s exploits during the war, “Baa Baa Blacksheep”.)
In addition to his career, Boynton has had a happy and active family life. He married Martha Brundage (“Mimi” to family) from Macon, Ga., in 1943. They were married for 73 years, until her death in 2016. The couple has two sons, five grandchildren and four great grands, with one more on the way!
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Boynton enjoyed a bit of local fame in 2013, when Mercer University reinstated its football program after a hiatus of 60 years. Having played on the last active team before the school mothballed the program for the war, Boynton was invited back to Mercer for the reinstatement game, where he delivered a rousing pep talk to the young team players, á la Knute Rockne.
"I believe Dad is the last surviving player from that 1941 team," said Boynton’s son, Mike. "However, he remains a devoted Auburn football fan, too!"
Today, Boynton is an active and enthusiastic resident of Arbor Terrace.
“He joins almost every activity that we offer in the community, and he loves people,” said Mary Byrd, Engagement director. “All of us on the staff enjoy his positive spirit.”
Join us in wishing Clarence “Pappy” Boynton a very special 100th birthday and in thanking him for his service to our nation.
