Alexander Boyd
September 14, 1925 - February 19, 2013Alexander Boyd, a graduate of Woodberry Forest School in Virginia and Princeton University, later served in Burma during WWII with the British Army. During his years in central Pennsylvania, Mr. Boyd was a real estate developer and Chairman of Union Deposit Corporation, but he will be remembered locally as a conservationist.
Mr. Boyd was a philanthropist known for his generosity. He made many notable contributions in Harrisburg and Wickenburg, AZ. In 1999, Boyd donated 1,025 acres in Middle and Lower Paxton townships that became known as Boyd Big Tree Preserve. The conservation area straddles Blue Mountain and is part of the Pennsylvania state park system.
Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area is a sanctuary for mature trees and an environmental education study area. The large mature trees and thick woods of Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area make it an ideal habitat for a large variety of woodland creatures. All 10.6 miles (17.1 km) of trails at Boyd Big Tree Preserve Conservation Area are open to hiking and cross-country skiing.
His longtime business partner, Paul Mahoney, described Mr. Boyd as hesitant to take credit for his benevolence. He decided he wanted to leave that piece of ground the way he found it, Mahoney said of the conservation preserve. He liked to walk there and walk his dogs there.