PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Francis Bernard (Frank) Boyer, 60, formerly of Pittsfield and Lanesborough, Mass., died at his home in Kettering, Ohio, on Tuesday June 27, 2017, from small cell lung cancer.  

He was born at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, on May 22, 1957. He is survived by his parents, Francis H and Margaret (Morrison) Boyer of Kettering, Ohio; and his siblings Suzanne Homer of Kettering, Jean Boyer of Durham, N.C., Andrew Boyer of Reading, Mass., and Mary Boyer of Eau Claire, Wis. Frank was predeceased by his siblings Richard, Rebecca, Nancy and Monica.

Frank worked in retail in several states. He was also a computer programmer in Denver, Colo., and St. Louis, Mo. He loved to travel and had visited or lived in all 48 mainland states as well as four countries. In December 2007 he drove from Ottawa, Ontario, to Edmonton, Alberta, through snow, sleet, wind and highway closures. The 1,300 miles across Ontario seemed to take forever (in reality, just over two days).  He stopped in his grandfather's birthplace of Biggar, Saskatchewan, and looked for his great-grandparents' house in Edmonton, but it had been torn down.

One of the many stories of his travels occurred after he moved to Sicily, where his father was stationed.  Frank was 12 and decided he wanted to see Rome, so he hitchhiked from Catania to Messina. The truck driver he was with did not speak English, and Frank's Italian was limited, so the driver turned him over to the police in Messina, who called his parents to come and get him. When the truck driver learned that Frank was trying to get to Rome, he said, "If I'd known that, I would have taken him." He did get to Rome later.

Frank fought his illness valiantly with few complaints. He was determined to live independently and took each set back with grace.

Funeral notice: According to his wishes, there will be no services and his ashes will be scattered in the Rocky Mountains that he loved. Arrangements are under the direction of Conner and Koch Life Celebration Home in Bellbrook, Ohio.