Harvey Walter Boyce

Harvey Walter Boyce,77, passed away on December 11, 2019 surrounded by family in Henderson, NV. Harvey was born on November 26, 1942 in Long Beach, CA to Harvey Wood and Mary Wade Boyce. He was the oldest of two children.
Harvey grew up in Boulder City, NV. He graduated from Boulder City High School in 1961.
After high school he attended college at College of Southern Utah (now Southern Utah University) in Cedar City, UT where he received an A.A. in Finance. He then attended college
at Utah State University in Logan, UT where he received his B.S. in Finance. He would later receive his Master's Degree in public administration from the University of Northern Colorado.
Upon graduation from Utah State, Harvey was commissioned an officer in the United States Navy in 1965.
On July 29, 1967, while serving as the Air Intelligence Officer for the reconnaissance squadron onboard the aircraft carrier, USS Forrestal, in the Gulf of Tonkin, in Vietnam, his ship was the center of a horrendous fire, caused by a misfire of a Zuni rocket that impacted an armed A-4 Skyhawk. The resulting fire burned for hours, killing 134, injuring 161 and destroying 21 aircraft. Among the survivors were future Senator John McCain and future four-star admiral Ronald J. Zlatoper.
Harvey was the recipient of the National Defense Service Medal and Vietnam Service Medal with Bronze Star. He was medically retired, in 1972, achieving the rank of Lieutenant.
After his Naval retirement, he began his 30+ year career working with power and marketing within the Lower Colorado Region, starting with the United States Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) as an Accounting Technician rising up to an Accountant.
He then became a plank member of the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA), after the establishment of the Department of Energy. While with WAPA, he helped to pay off the Parker/Davis dams ahead of schedule and became friends with Northcutt Ely, while paying off the original 50-year power contracts on Hoover Dam. Northcutt negotiated the original 50-year contracts, ensuring that the Federal Government would be repaid and thus ensured the building of Hoover Dam. The two men worked together in writing the 30-year power contracts, that would come to replace the original. Because of his efforts, he rose to Supervisory Public Utilities Specialist.
In 1990, he left Federal Service, to work for the State of Nevada at the Colorado River Commission, as a Power Marketing Administrator.
In 1993, he had the opportunity to come back to where he started and he began work as a Power Operations Specialist for the USBR.
Harvey was asked to lead many different projects, while stationed at Hoover Dam. After the 9/11 attacks, it was determined that Hoover Dam would be better secured if the lights were changed from the older iconic style of lights to something whiter and brighter. Harvey worked with Sylvania lighting to change over the lights, which are in place today. He was also asked by USBR Commissioner John Keys, to spearhead the 100th anniversary festivities to celebrate the birth of USBR. This would end up being his swansong as he arranged to divert traffic around the dam for several days, in order to shoot off fireworks off the top of Hoover Dam, lighting up Black Canyon. He arranged for the USAF Thunderbirds to do a fly-over to celebrate the event and he helped to create commemorative shirts and coats for the event, 2 of which were created for then President of the United States, George W. Bush and Vice-President, Dick Cheney. President Bush was so touched by the fact that someone would think of him, that he wrote a proclamation for Harvey, to honor his retirement.
Finally, Harvey went to work for the Arizona Power Authority for approximately 5 years, where he worked as a consultant on Hoover matters and feasibility studies on wind power integration.
Harvey married his High School sweetheart, Ann Elizabeth Adams in 1965 in Boulder City, NV. They were happily married for 54 years.
Harvey was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, where he held many different positions. Probably the best-known job, amongst the "Old-Timers", that Harvey held was Ward Finance Clerk. Every Dime-a-Dip, a fund raiser held at the Chapel on 5th Street, Harvey would be taking the money, adding the food items up, in his head, faster than the calculator he used.
He had a passion for the Navy, Hoover Dam but most importantly his family.
Harvey was preceded in death by his parents, Harvey Wood Boyce and Mary Wade Boyce and by his brother, Wade Fredrick Boyce.
Harvey is survived by his spouse Ann of Boulder City, NV; his son Raymond Scott (Jennifer) Boyce; his daughter Rebecca Dawn (Dean) Morrical, both of Henderson, NV; his grandchildren Sean Michael Morrical and Alexander Scott Morrical.
A Funeral service will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints chapel at 916 5th Street in Boulder City at 11:00am on January 13, 2020.
Burial will follow at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery at 1900 Veterans Memorial Drive, Boulder City, NV.