George Boykin, retired Stony Brook staffer, dies

George Boykin of East Moriches, who worked at The Health Sciences Center at Stony Brook University for more than 35 years, has died of complications brought on by heart disease, cancer and diabetes. He was 78.

As chief morphologist, Boykin, who died Feb. 19, operated Stony Brook's Anatomy Lab, where he oversaw the dissection of corpses donated to the university for medical research. Although family members admitted that the job was morbid, they said that Boykin's personality did not reflect the somber nature of his profession.

"You would never know that he worked with cadavers," said wife Hilde Boykin, 80.

"He was the most cheerful person you would ever want to meet," added son-in-law Stephen Priory, 60, of Glenwood Landing.

Boykin's daughter, Tracey Boykin-Priory, 48, of Glenwood Landing, said that her father "really understood the living quite a bit."

Boykin-Priory, a physical therapist at The Stern Family Center for Extended Care & Rehabilitation in Manhasset, studied in her father's anatomy lab while attending Stony Brook University. However, she was given no special treatment. "He was very low-key in that sense," she said. "We believe in working for things."

Boykin graduated from the New York Academy of Embalming, his family said. He went on to serve in the Army, where he was a sergeant first class in the Korean War. Boykin, who was black, met his future wife, who was white, while stationed in Hamburg, Germany. The two married in 1953, when interracial marriages were uncommon.

"People were spitting at us at that time," Hilde Boykin said. "We had each other, and that's the most important thing."

At Stony Brook, Boykin was a civil rights activist and was involved in a program that supports African-American, Latino, Native American and Asian students. "He did whatever he could to take people under his wing," said Boykin-Priory. Boykin was also involved in Stony Brook's Black Faculty and Staff Association, and was vice president of the Brookhaven NAACP.

Before coming to Stony Brook in 1972, Boykin was a mortuary attendant at the New York City medical examiner's office, supervisor of the mortuary at the Manhattan veterans hospital, and pathology assistant at the Suffolk County medical examiner's office.

Family members said hospitals across Long Island sought Boykin's assistance. "He had mentored many doctors over the years," Stephen Priory said.

His daughter said that he initially wanted to be a funeral director, but at the time there were few African-Americans in that field. "He was dedicated to changing that," said Boykin-Priory, although he ultimately decided to go in a different direction.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Boykin is survived by two grandchildren, who knew him as Opa.

A funeral was held at the Bethel A.M.E. church in Setauket on Feb. 24, with burial at Calverton National Cemetery.