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ALTON - Memories of Boyd’s Sandwich Shop came flooding through Alton this week as Bob Boyd, previously the owner-operator, died on Monday.
A Friends of Boyd’s Sandwich Shop Facebook page was created and many shared their memories on the page.
Liz Boyd shared on the page that Bob officially retired in 1989 after many years and generations behind the counter in Upper Alton.
Dale Nuedecker, who owned a State Farm Insurance agency for years in Upper Alton, and Bob were good friends.
“Boyd’s was an absolute instiution up there in Upper Alton,” Neudecker said. “Bob would stand at the grill and the waiters would take the order and call it back to him. He never ever wrote anything down but everybody’s order came out just perfect. It was a family-run business. Bob was a well-respected member of the Upper Alton community forever.”
Mike Drake, Alton High graduate, said Boyd’s was the ultimate “sandwich shop” of that era in Alton with old-fashioned stools and a counter.
He described Bob Boyd as “always extremely pleasant.”
“He always had a smile on his face,” Drake remembered.
Boyd played professional baseball with the St. Louis Browns before serving in the Korean War. He was an accomplished athlete with a 300 game in bowling and a hole-in-one on the golf course. Bob and his wife, Betty, were married more than 60 years and had a large family with children, grandchildren.
Larry Franklin, CEO of Cornerstone National Bank in Alton, has an abundance of memories at the old sandwich shop and of Bob Boyd.
“It was a stop-in place for lunch or breakfast and was just a typical ‘hometown restaurant',” Franklin said. “I am not sure how many stools it had, it was in a horsehoe. A lunch counter better describes it.”
Franklin said it was evident Bob Boyd always had the “community’s best interest at heart by the way he conducted himself.”
He and his wife were both such hard workers,” Franklin said. “The food was great. You couldn’t beat the hamburger and fries there. The menu was decent and everything was good.”
When Franklin visited Boyd’s, he had a staple order – hamburger and fries.
Franklin remembered Boyd being very active in the community, supporting sports teams and always being interested in the well-being of Alton. He also recalled the restaurant being where Walgreen’s in Upper Alton is located now.
Every day, Boyd’s had a crowd of people, often a lot of Alton High students at lunch or at other times.
“It was an Alton institution,” Franklin said. “He touched a lot of people. He had a large following and a lot of loyal customers.”
Erin Frew of Alton said she has a lot of “great memories” from Boyd’s. “This was such a great place with great lunches,” she said.
Joe Bayer described what he most probably remembers most about Boyd’s Sandwich Shop – “It had such great burgers,” he said on the Facebook with memories of Boyd’s.
Scott Neudecker and Bob’s son, Kelly, started Little League baseball together at age 8 and continued through their childhood, so Dale Neudecker has many memories of Bob being with him at baseball diamonds rooting on their kids.
“It is hard to believe, but it was about 50 years ago when Scott and Kelly started Little League together,” Dale Neudecker said.
The institution that became Boyd’s was initially a Block’s restaurant. Bob’s mother started working for the Block family and eventually Bob and his family took it over.
“It was a local place to get a great burger, have a great conversation and it was a neighborhood gathering place where you could see just about anyone,” Dale Neudecker said.
What Dale Neudecker said likely could be said by anyone who knew Bob Boyd: “Bob was a super nice guy. I have never heard anyone say anything but nice things about Bob. He is truly one of the really nice guys of Alton.”
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