SAN DIEGO — Father James A. Boyd, who ministered for almost three decades in the Diocese of San Diego, died Jan. 20 after a prolonged illness. He was 88.
Father Boyd was best known for his work with the Stella Maris Seafarer’s Center, where he served as chaplain, beginning in 2003. The center, which closed last year, represented the Diocese of San Diego’s participation in the Apostleship of the Sea, an international ministry of pastoral care to those who make their livelihoods on the world’s oceans.
“The appeal (of the priestly vocation) is that you’re helping people to get to Heaven,” Father Boyd told The Southern Cross in an interview that appeared in the January 2023 edition. “What could be better than that, helping them to be happy forever?”
Born in Brooklyn, New York, Father Boyd was ordained as a priest for that diocese on June 1, 1963. He ministered as an associate pastor in Brooklyn parishes before joining the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps in 1970.
His naval career spanned more than 25 years and took him around the world: to the Philippines; to Point Mugu in Oxnard, California; to Rota, Spain; to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and finally, to Naval Base Coronado, where he retired from the Navy in 1996.
Officially, Father Boyd would remain a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn for the entirety of his priesthood. But, with the permission of his bishop, he served in the San Diego Diocese from early 1997 until suffering a stroke in March of 2024.
Auxiliary Bishop Michael Pham, whose diocesan responsibilities include serving as vicar for clergy, acknowledged that the late priest was “very active in our diocese.”
“He was from the Diocese of Brooklyn, and yet, he is like one of us,” he said, expressing the sentiment that he seemed to be just as much a San Diego priest as any who were ordained for this diocese.
In addition to serving as chaplain of the Stella Maris Seafarer’s Center, Father Boyd was also actively involved with Engaged Encounter, which prepares couples for married life; Marriage Encounter, an enrichment program for married couples; and Retrouvaille, which is intended to heal deeply troubled marriages.
John Prust, director of the Diocese of San Diego’s Office for Family Life and Spirituality, said that the late priest was such a strong supporter of marriages and families that some nicknamed him “The Divorce Buster.”
A funeral Mass for Father Boyd was celebrated Jan. 30 at St. Thérèse of Carmel Parish in Carmel Valley. Interment was the following morning at Miramar National Cemetery.
“Being a priest is a very happy life,” Father Boyd told The Southern Cross two years ago. “Think of all the good things you’re doing. You can celebrate Mass; you bring God’s forgiveness to people in confession. It’s absolutely marvelous to be able to be called by God to do this. What a privilege!”
