Lake Catherine State Park superintendent retires
In a couple of weeks, there will be a big change at Lake Catherine State Park. While the campsites, trails and lake will all be the same, for the first time in 35 years, Richard W. Boyes II will not be at the helm.
Just three months shy of 38 years with the Arkansas State Parks, Boyes is retiring this month.
Boyes began his career as a seasonal maintenance worker at Lake Dardanelle State Park and was quickly promoted to maintenance supervisor for the park. In
1983, he moved to Lake Catherine, where he was an assistant superintendent. In
2008, he was promoted to superintendent.
He has also been superintendent of Jenkins Ferry Battleground State Park in Grant County since the 1980s.
A lifelong fan of the outdoors, Boyes said he gained his love for the wilderness during his time in the Boy Scouts of America. “The Boy Scouts got me going in the right direction,” he said.
As far as why he is retiring, Boyes said he signed up for a Deferred Retirement Option Plan, or DROP. Once an employee is on a DROP plan, they have seven years to retire. Boyes said he decided to wait until the last day to retire.
In honor of his career, a retirement party was held for Boyes Thursday at
Camp Couchdale. In addition to celebrating Boyes’ career, the event also served as an opportunity for Boyes to accept the 2018 State Parks Region 1 Park of the Year award. Arkansas State Parks Director Grady Spann presented Boyes with the award.
Explaining how the award works, Spann said all the park superintendents in the region meet and discuss how their year went and then they pick a park to get the award. Spann said Lake Catherine won almost unanimously this year.
It was the third time the park has won the award since Boyes became superintendent. The park previously won it in 2009 and 2016.
“It is fitting that the park has won the award in (Boyes) final year, but it’s not the first or only (time it has won),” Spann said.
“Richard exemplified being a park ranger to the point that it seemed like almost everybody knew him,” Tom Stolarz, the region supervisor, said Thursday.
Stolarz said that he was once asked what a park superintendent does. “Thinking of Richard, I said, ‘He does whatever needs to be done,’” Stolarz said.
Fighting back tears, Cheryl Vincent, assistant superintendent at Lake Catherine State Park, said Boyes was the best boss she could ask for. “This man has the respect of so many people, and I don’t think he knows the impact he has had on those people,” she said.
Marion Fletcher, with the Arkansas FFA Association, said, “You can’t ask for a better man.”
After his last day, Boyes and his wife of 37 years, Janice, will move to northwest Arkansas. The couple have 57 acres of land near the White River and their immediate plans are to build a house on the land.
Janice Boyes said she isn’t looking forward to the move, because moving is “a lot of work when you have lived in one place for 35 years. You don’t realize how much junk you (own),” she said.
In addition to building the house, they plan on spending time on the White River — they have already bought kayaks — and intend to visit more state parks. Both of their sons, Michael and Neil, live around Hot Springs, so the Boyes said they will be visiting the area often.
One of their sons, Michael, has followed Boyes into this line of work, serving as a ranger at Lake Ouachita.
During the retirement party, well-wishers were asked to line up and shake Boyes’ hand, but Michael chose to give him a hug instead.
The biggest thing that Boyes will miss about the job, he said, is the people that he has met.
“Met a lot of wonderful folks at the park,” Boyes said.