Date published: 8/13/2005

ED BOUTCHYARD was born in Falmouth on Dec. 26, 1919, and attended Falmouth High School. "I had no special interests, other than girls, and when I could get out of school," he recalls.

His father, Harry Daniel Boutchyard, worked in a pants factory on Lafayette Boulevard. When Ed got a job in the summer of 1936 (his junior year), his uncle, Nelson Curtis, who managed the pants factory, persuaded him to stay on and work, rather than return to high school and graduate.

"He said it wasn't necessary for that last year," says Boutchyard. "But I suffered for it. In one way, I regret not graduating, but in another, I've had other experiences that more than made up for it. And I had some fairly good jobs after that."

At the pants factory, he worked for $10 a week. By 1939, he decided to move on, getting a job at the Fredericksburg Chevrolet dealership, at that time called Virginia Sales and Service. In late 1940, he became an office clerk, doing such things as payroll and daily sales summaries and earning $17.50 per week.

Boutchyard's wife, Emma Sue, grew up on a farm in Appomattox. They have six children: Frances works at BB&T Bank in Fredericksburg and is married to James Brooks. Frank James Boutchyard is retired from Spotsylvania County, and recently moved to Arizona. Peggy Boutchyard lives in Montpelier, and worked in the Philippines in the late 1960s as a missionary. Robert "Bobby" Boutchyard lives in Orange County, and is retired from the carpentry business and as a superintendent in the building industry. Donna Boutchyard lives in Tappahannock. Susan Boutchyard, along with her husband, Mike Hirsh, are pastors of the Independent Church in Fredericksburg, Calvary Christian Center, where Ed and Emma Boutchyard also worship.

The Boutchyards have 14 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.

Both have been active in following the retired activities of the Army Signal Corps' Company A, 437th Heavy Construction Battalion, through reunions over the years, beginning in 1986, when they included Company B and the Headquarters unit.

The highlight of these meetings was the 50th reunion, on Sept. 12, 1992, aboard the Queen Mary, which is now permanently anchored in Long Beach, Calif.