Jeanne Boyt

Jeanne Marguerite (Dowdell) Boyt, 95, of Sioux Falls peacefully passed on June 16, 2024, with family at her side.

Jeanne was born on June 2, 1929, in St. Louis, Missouri, to James and Marguerite Dowdell (Davisson). Jeanne was the youngest of their three children. In 1940, the family moved from St. Louis to Des Moines, Iowa.

Jeanne was graduated in 1947 from St. Joseph Academy, a private Catholic girls high school. She started college at Iowa State University in Ames, but in 1948 transferred to Creighton University, a Jesuit University in Omaha, Nebraska, graduating with a BA in English in 1951. After graduation, Jeanne worked at Equitable Life Insurance in Des Moines in a training program to become a supervisor.

While on a college break, she met her future husband, Robert Boyt. Bob was a study partner with Jeanne’s oldest brother, Jim, who like Bob was a student at Drake University in Des Moines.

Bob and Jeanne were married in May 1952 at St. Augustin’s Parish in Des Moines, Iowa.

In 1975, the family moved to Sioux Falls, where Jeanne made friends through many hours of volunteer work for the good of the church, school, and community. She helped to set up a library for the parish office at St. Mary’s Church, served in positions of secretary and vice-president of the Avera McKennan Hospital Auxiliary and worked in its gift shop for three years. In 1978, Jeanne joined the American Association of University Women (AAUW). For the AAUW, Jeanne coordinated volunteers who priced used books for sale and the monies made were donated to various charities. In 1983, she received an AAUW Award for outstanding work on the book sale project.

Jeanne also worked at Dayton’s (now Macy’s) in Sioux Falls for 10 years. She enjoyed helping new brides pick out china to match their personalities.

She was an experimental cook, making yogurt, bread, and croissants. And there was never a summer when she and her family didn’t enjoy her crop of sweet tomatoes.

Jeanne and Bob enjoyed traveling, from taking cruises to seeing Europe. In addition, there were frequent road trips to see their children and grandchildren.

Jeanne had a wonderful laugh, sometimes laughing so hard tears came to her eyes. She was a voracious reader, reading a book a day. She also enjoyed working on crossword puzzles, with the Sunday puzzle being her favorite.

Jeanne was preceded in death by her loving husband, Bob Boyt, and her two brothers, Jim and Jack Dowdell.

Jeanne will be missed. She is survived by three daughters, Nelly Boyt (Rick Miller) of Chattanooga, TN; Marguerite Boyt (Dick Brown) of San Luis Obispo, CA; Mary Boyt (Greg Madsen) of Kildeer, Illinois; son Joe Boyt (Kimberly Stankey) of Sioux Falls; 11 grandchildren, Lindsey (Beau Boruff), and Sean Miller (Gabrielle Angelo); Laura, Sam, and Henry Brown; James (Courtney Moore), Rob, and Will Madsen; and Sophia, Quentin, and Dexter Boyt. In addition, there are four great-grandchildren: Boyt aka Tuck, Malley and Stone Boruff; and Theodore Madsen.

On June 19, 2024, a memorial service was held at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Sioux Falls.

The family suggests memorial donations to Sioux Falls Casa at www.siouxfallscasa.org or to the charity of your choice.