Elizabeth Boyce

Elizabeth Boyce, known to her friends as Lili, passed from this life on January 30, 2019.  She was born in Manchester, Connecticut on January 5th, 1932 to Joseph and Elizabeth (Gillis) Boyce who had emigrated from Portadown, Northern Ireland.  Lili’s mother died following childbirth whereupon her father moved to live with his sister, Ann Boyce Donnelly, on a temporary basis to provide care for Lili.  However, the move became permanent and Lili was raised by her father and her aunt whom she thought of and referred to as her mother.

Lili graduated from Manchester High School and received a BA degree in a MSW degree from the University of Connecticut where she was inducted into the Phi Kappa Phi fraternity for scholastic honors.  She also completed post-master’s studies at Columbia University and at the Ackerman Family Institute in New York. At the time of her retirement, she was an Associate Director for Outpatient Services at the Connecticut Mental Health Center in New Haven and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University.

Apart from her professional life, Lili held a primary and abiding interest in classical music.  She studied voice and throughout much of her life was a soloist in school and church choirs and performed in several operettas at the University of Connecticut, singing the lead soprano roles.  She had a special love of opera, and was a regular attendee at the HD live transmissions from the Metropolitan Opera that were shown in local theaters. She also enjoyed traveling and learning about other countries, their people, and customs, especially their music, crafts and food.  Her favorite destination was Ireland and she made many trips to that country where she connected with extended members of her family.

Lili moved to Guilford Connecticut in 1970 and lived in the Mulberry Point neighborhood which she considered a special place.  She enjoyed cooking and sharing meals with her neighbors, gardening, and was an avid reader. After retiring, she volunteered with Literacy Volunteers and had a special relationship with a Bosnian family, mentoring their daughter from grammar school through college.  She was also a loyal fan of UCONN basketball, the New York Yankees, and enjoyed watching the four major tennis tournaments each year.

Lili was predeceased by all of her family in this country when she was a young woman, but used to say that she was still related to half the people in Northern Ireland.  

Funeral Arrangements are in the charge of the Holmes-Watkins Funeral Home in Manchester, Connecticut and a private internment was held at the East Cemetery in that town. 

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