Jeffery A. Boyd, 60, of Troy, Illinois, was born August 22, 1966, in Atlanta, Georgia, and passed away on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, in Troy, Illinois. 

To the people who knew and loved him, Jeff was simply “JB.”

Jeff spent much of his childhood overseas, growing up on Tachikawa Air Force Base in Japan and Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines while his father served in the United States Air Force. His family eventually returned to the stateside when his father was stationed at Scott Air Force Base, bringing them to the Edwardsville area. They chose to make their home in Troy, and, in true Jeff Boyd fashion, he wasted no time making friends and building relationships that would last a lifetime.

Troy became home, and Jeff never really wanted it to be anywhere else. He loved the community, the people in it, and the friendships he built there over the course of his life.  At the center of Jeff’s life were his children, Jacob and Jordan. He loved being their dad, and he rarely finished a conversation without finding a way to mention how proud he was of them. As they grew up, so many of the things they loved became things he wanted to understand, experience, and enjoy alongside them. Whether it was music, photography, collecting, travel, or something completely outside his own wheelhouse, if it mattered to them, it mattered to him.  Sports were woven into nearly every chapter of Jeff’s life. The Atlanta Braves were the team that first gave him his love of baseball, but after moving to the St. Louis area, he quickly fell in love with the Cardinals, too. Over the years, certain athletes became larger-than-life figures to him — Dale Earnhardt in NASCAR, Dan Marino with the Miami Dolphins, Mickey Mantle as one of his baseball greats, and later Albert Pujols in St. Louis.

He attended more sporting events than anyone could reasonably count — World Series games, the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup, college football and basketball games, NASCAR and IndyCar races, and just about anything else that gave him an excuse to be in the stands. Some of his favorite trips were built around sports, too. He loved heading to spring training to watch the Cardinals with his best friends, and few things made him happier than traveling with people he loved to see a game, race, tournament, or event he had been looking forward to.  Jeff was also a true sports memorabilia collector. His collection included autographed baseballs, jerseys, footballs, basketballs, tickets, bats, hats, and anything else connected to a player, team, or moment that meant something to him. If there was a story behind something in his collection, Jeff remembered it — and chances were good he was ready to tell you all about it.

In fact, Jeff had a story for just about everything.

“I’ve got a story for ya” was often the beginning of one.

And he really did.

Whether it came from a sporting event, a trip, the car dealership, a friend, or something that happened decades earlier, Jeff could somehow connect nearly any conversation to a story worth telling. His personality was larger than life, his energy was infectious, and he had an extraordinary ability to make friends everywhere he went.

Jeff spent the majority of his professional life working in the automotive industry, which suited him well because his love of cars extended far beyond work. He loved cars — a lot — and his Hot Wheels collection alone could prove it.

When Jeff was not at a game, talking about a game, collecting something from a game, or telling a story about one, he was often planning the next trip.

He loved ski trips to Colorado, especially Breckenridge and Copper Mountain, with friends. He loved trips to the Lake of the Ozarks with his buddies and close family friends. And any trip to the coast was really just an excuse to eat seafood every night. Shrimp, crab legs, lobster, mahi mahi — if it came from the ocean, there was a good chance Jeff was ordering it.

Music was another constant in his life. He loved everything from rap to rock, including AC/DC and KISS when he was younger. As his children grew up and developed their own tastes, Jeff happily came along for the ride. Before long, he could sing along to Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood and even found himself getting into EDM right alongside them.

That willingness to care about what mattered to the people he loved was one of Jeff’s defining qualities.

He was one of the most thoughtful people you could meet. If you mentioned some niche interest in passing, Jeff remembered it. By the next time you talked, there was a decent chance he had learned enough about it to carry on a conversation just because he knew it mattered to you. Whether that meant learning about Collector Barbies for his daughter or Pokémon cards for his son, he found ways to meet people where they were and give them something to connect over.  He was also never afraid to tell the people he loved what they needed to hear, rather than simply what they wanted to hear.

More than anything, Jeff had a gift for making people feel like friends. He could walk into a room knowing no one and leave having met half of it. He was curious about people, generous with his attention, quick with a story, and almost always able to find some shared interest to talk about.

Jeff was preceded in death by his parents, Edward Wilson Boyd and Nancy Elizabeth (née Neely) Boyd.

He is survived by his children, Jacob Alan Boyd of Whiteland, Indiana, and Jordan Alexa Boyd of Chicago, Illinois, along with the many friends and loved ones who knew him as JB and whose lives were made more interesting, more entertaining, and more connected because he was in them.

A Celebration of Life will be held from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. CT on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at the Hall of Fame Club at Cardinals Nation in Ballpark Village in St. Louis, Missouri. The Hall of Fame Club is located on the second floor of Cardinals Nation Restaurant & Bar. All are welcome.

Memorial contributions may be made to the family’s GoFundMe to help with funeral and Celebration of Life expenses: https://gofund.me/241e4e941

Online expressions of sympathy may be shared at Richesonfh.com.