Oregon City citizens who knew Boyce said he loved nature, and nature responded to him. He also loved people; with his wife, Lorain, they enjoyed meeting and celebrating life with many patrons of their art studio featuring subjects of Norse mythology.

“People love nature,” Boyce was quoted by Pamplin Media Group as saying in 2013. “When they actually get a chance to learn something about it, they’re overjoyed.”

Decades ago, Boyce operated a fine nursery and production retail facility in Tigard. There he personally learned the characteristics of many species of plants and came to know other naturalists.

Boyce understood the challenges of the many Pacific Northwest plants as well as the beautiful ornamentals that were showcased in his shop. He knew the botanical names and the history of the botanist behind each of those names.

Boyce loved to research the work David Douglas, the Scottish botanist whose 19th-century expeditions inspired the Douglas fir’s naming. Boyce further researched and respected the efforts of sailing ships of the 1800s and their doctors who often described and named the plants that Boyce eventually grew.

Boyce served his community through his environmental workshops that attracted people throughout the region to Oregon City. He participated in countless cleanups of Waterboard Park and other natural resources. He helped the parks foundation with complex grants, even though his health in latter years was not letting him do all he wanted to do.

Boyce was an active member of the city’s Natural Resource Committee and Two Rivers Neighborhood Association, both of which he chaired. His guidance in striving for consensus at the meetings kept everyone working together, said fellow Clackamas County naturalist Jerry Herrmann.

“Everyone knew Bryon for what he was, a genuine naturalist in the finest legacy of great men and women who cared about nature, people and wildlife,” Herrmann said. “He is already missed and will continue to be so in the many communities that his prowess for nature, plants and people served.”

Boyce additionally served as a board member for the Clackamas River Basin Council starting in 2003.