Home: About Boyds: History - R.P. Boyd

Rutherford Percival Boyd, fondly called R. P. or Rudy by his friends, was born January 1, 1911 in Portland. The only son of Josephine and Percival Dewe Boyd, he succeeded his father in the Boyd Tea Company, now the Boyd Coffee Company, founded by his father in 1900.

At age seven, R. P. helped his father sell coffees, teas and spices from a red delivery truck---the modernized version of his father's original horse-drawn red wagon. He learned the business early on and became an expert at selling the Boyd products to Portland residents.

He worked through the ranks of his father's company as salesperson, sales manager and vice-president to become president of the company in 1958. During his tenure as president, he developed the company from a small coffee roasting business serving Oregon, Washington, Northern California, Idaho and Montana into a larger enterprise that included Utah, Nevada, Wyoming and Arizona.

As the second generation owner and president of the growing company, Boyd emphasized quality products, promoted customer service and thrived on personal innovation.

As a visionary in the growing coffee industry during the mid-1900's, Boyd was one of the first American coffee roasters to import and market high quality European grade coffee beans. He established an international mail order coffeehouse and tasting room, the Red Wagon Coffee Store, which preceded the current ubiquitous espresso coffee bars.

R. P. Boyd invented the first restaurant device and method for brewing coffee through paper filters, now an industry standard, by inserting folded filter paper into a plastic cone, which he patented. He was responsible for bringing back whole bean coffees and paper coffee bags to American consumers, which has since replaced the mass-marketed vacuum-packed, pre-ground coffee in tin cans.

Boyd was a pioneer in providing his employees with health care and company pensions as well as in being an early proponent in 1972 of a smoke-free workplace environment. As a philanthropist, he supported the arts, social services, religious and charitable organizations.

In 1976, R. P. became Chairman Emeritus and passed the torch to his two sons, David and Richard, the third generation of Boyd coffee roasters, who operate the family-owned business today.

He was a member of the All Saints Episcopal Church, the National Coffee Association and a past president of the Portland Executive Association.

In 1935 he married Ellen Victoria Eklund, who passed away in 1997. R.P. died of natural causes on February 17, 2006. His two sons, David D. Boyd and Richard D. Boyd, two daughters, Bonnie Lynne Shannon and Carol Lynne Juckeland, 15 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren carry on the Boyd family traditions.

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