Richard Boyles

Richard Eugene Boyles, Sr., was born to the late Charles and Mabel Coulter Boyles on January 6, 1944, in Kansas City, Missouri. He departed this life on December 7, 2016, at St. Francis Hospital Downtown.

At a young age, Richard enlisted into the United States Army in order to fight in the Vietnam War. During his two tours of duty in Vietnam, he was used as an interpreter because he was fluent in several languages. After serving in the military, he returned to South Carolina where he began his career in law enforcement while maintaining his duty as an active Reservist. In between this time, he had also worked as an embalmer at Watkins, Garrett & Woods Mortuary. He was the first African American police officer employed for the City of Mauldin. He also worked as an police officer in Simpsonville, Fountain Inn, and at the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport until he retired for health reasons.

He was proud to have been a soldier for the United States. He was a member of the Disabled American Veterans Chapter #39 as well as the American Legion, and the National Order of Tunnel Rats.

He was preceded in death by two brothers, Van Boyles and Lonnell Boyles; a son, Richard E. Boyles, Jr., and a grandson, Michael Kyron Boyles.

Left to cherish many memories are his wife, Arlene C. Boyles of Hendersonville, NC; daughters, Rosaline Golden of Greenville and Victoria Escudero of Spartanburg; son, Michael (Myla) Williams of Glenn Heights, TX; sister, Charlene Lee of Kansas City, MO; brother, Robert Boyles of Kansas City, MO; daughter-in-law, Deanna Boyles of Simpsonville; stepdaughters, Renee Jackson of Springfield Gardens, NY, Monique Jackson of Taylors, and Keesha (Oral) Jackson-Muir of Fort Washington, MD; stepson, Ferron Boswell of Greenville; twelve grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends