Obituary of Gayle Maree Kinney Boykin

Gayle Maree Kinney Boykin, 77, wife of Robert “Bobby” Newman Boykin, Jr., died Friday, September 13, 2024, at her home. Born June 11, 1947, in Sumter, she was a daughter of Mary Graham Kinney Franklin and the late Julius Belden Kinney, Sr. She was a 1965 honor graduate of Edmunds High School. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1969 from Limestone College where she was the recipient of an Alumni Scholarship. In addition to holding several class offices, she was a member of the Kalosophia Honor Society and Chi Beta Phi National Science Fraternity. She served as Photography Editor and Editor-in Chief of the yearbook and was selected to Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities. She taught at Wilson Hall where she was the faculty advisor for the school’s first yearbook, and she also taught at Laurence Manning Academy. For many years, she was a tutor of advanced Mathematics in Sumter. She was chairman of the Limestone Alumni in the Sumter area for several years. In Manning, she taught adult Sunday school and vacation bible school at Manning UMC. She was treasurer of the Friends of the Clarendon County Library, where she was a volunteer, and member and past President of the Azalea Garden Club. She was a charter member of the Sumter Bicentennial Women’s Club. She was also a member of the Trian Club and the Jimmie Snyder Sailing Club She was a member of Bethlehem UMC in Davis Station where she has served as Treasurer, Chairman of Outreach, Family Coordinator, Historian, served on the Committee on Lay Leadership, and delivered the children’s sermons for many years. She devoted her adult life to her family, as a loving and supportive wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, and daughter-in-law. She loved reading and working in her yard. She is survived by her husband and her mother; a son, Robert Newman “Tripp” Boykin III and his wife Shannon of Alcolu; and a daughter, Elizabeth Graham “Grae” Boykin Pratt and her husband, James Clifford “Kip” Pratt, II of Alcolu; two grandchildren, Mary Pratt Horne and her husband, Jonathan, of Columbia, and Jackson Graeme Pratt of Alcolu; a brother, Julius Belden Kinney, Jr. and his wife, Carol, of Anderson, SC and Isle of Palms, SC; two nieces, Meg Bloomer and Libba Pena and her husband, Kyle, of Anderson, SC. A celebration of life service will be held Tuesday, September 17, 2024 at Bethlehem UMC, in Davis Station, at 3 PM with the Rev. Leo Roy officiating. A private burial will be held at Trinity Church of Alcolu. The family will receive friends and family from 1:30 PM – 3 PM Tuesday, at Bethlehem UMC, and other times at the home, 1119 Newman Circle, Summerton. Memorials may be made to Bethlehem United Methodist Church, c/o Lori Spence, 1282 Creekside Drive, Manning, SC 29102. On-line condolences may be sent to www.sumterfunerals.com Elmore Hill McCreight Funeral Home & Crematory, 221 Broad Street, Sumter, is in charge of the arrangements (803) 775-9386.