PASSING OF JIMMY "BAWANA" BOYD

[RONNY]

a dear friend of radio in meridian ms, laurel- hattiesburg, jackson, new oleans, and all of the southeast. recently passed away may 28. he will be missed and rembered.




James E. Boyd Jr.



FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. — Memorial services for James E. “Bwana Jimmy” Boyd Jr. were held June 5, 2007, in Fort Walton Beach. A memorial is planned in the fall the weekend of Thanksgiving in Meridian. Davis Watkins Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Mr. Boyd, of Fort Walton Beach, formerly of Meridian, died Monday, May 28, 2007, in his home. He was born in Atlanta in 1953, and moved to Stonewall in 1962. He made lifetime friends in Stonewall and later Meridian. He graduated from Meridian High School in 1971, already a veteran radio personality.

Many people remember Jimmy Boyd for his celebrated career as a prominent radio personality in Meridian, Hattiesburg, Jackson, Tuscaloosa, Ala. and Birmingham, Ala. as well as Louisiana and Florida.

[EDIT]

An online memorial and guestbook may be viewed and signed at www.daviswatkins.com. The guestbook will be used to contact everyone for the date and time of the Thanksgiving memorial service. His brother, Greg Boyd may be reached by e-mail at [email protected].


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[tonedeaf]

I remember Jimmy from years ago. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. He was a good guy. May he RIP.

 

[the golden boy]

Re: PASSING OF JIMMY "BWANA" BOYD

This is so sad to hear about. I used to listen to him when he was doing mornings on the old Hot 95 in Jackson. He later went to work for the old WIIN 98 and the last I heard him on radio, he was on the old Oldies 94.1 in Tuscaloosa in the mid-90s.

BTW, he once told me that he owned a taco stand next to Hot 95's studio when it was in Highland Village. Is that true?

 

[lfuss]

Damn! I'd been trying to get in touch with "The Bwanna" for several years. I knew he was on the Gulf Coast, but never could find him. I hired him at Q101 in about '81, over the objections of management. He was one of the most talented guys in radio, ever!!! He will be missed.

LF

 

[kirk messer]

He AND I WORKED TOGETHER AT WMOX IN MERIDIAN DURING THE 70's. THE THING I REMEMBER MOST ABOUT JIMMY WAS ALL THE FUNNY STORIES HE TOLD ABOUT GM EDDIE SMITH. I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER AND MISS JIMMY.  RADIO HAS LOST A GREAT PERSONALITY.

 

[YoungWayne]

I am so sorry to hear of this. I know it's old news, but I just joined the site today.

Jimmy was program director at the second station I ever worked at (after Terry Bonner, I believe), WHSY in Hattiesburg, and gave me the radio name I used for a long while, Young Wayne. We were roomates for a bit, even.

He was one of the funniest guys I've ever known. I'll never forget his walking up the song "Keep on Smiling" with a weather forecast: "Be sure to grab an umbrella. You don't want to get a Wet Willie!" right up to the vocal.

Jimmy was a 'big guy' in more ways than one. I'll never forget riding with this massive guy in a little MG Midget. It seemed impossible that he could even fit into it. And he had this scary problem with narcolepsy while he was driving. I'd be in the passenger seat banging on him to wake up while he was driving.

Jimmy got our engineer at WHSY to rig up a button he could push in the downstairs (and only) bathroom that would fire off the multi-deck cart player if he couldn't get back up in time, and of course, we had a speaker in there, so you could hear the station.

And those are only a FEW of the stories about Jimmy Boyd. I'm sorry I missed his funeral. I'll never forget him.