Elizabeth Boyce

Elizabeth (Beth) Sievert Boyce of Milwaukie, Oregon passed away on June 23, 2025, at the age of 78 from complications of a cardiac event.

Beth was born on July 12, 1946, in Blue Island, Illinois, to Carl and Ruth Oberdorfer Sievert, and was raised in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Ohio. Always fascinated by the structures and nuances of language, she majored in Spanish at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio, and obtained an M.A. from Indiana University and a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. She served as a professor of Spanish at UC Santa Cruz, University of Dundee in Scotland, University of Colorado at Boulder, Houston Baptist University, Portland State University, and George Fox University, specializing in Spanish literature of the Golden Age (sixteenth and seventeenth centuries). Her book Tras el Espejo la Musa Escribe (Behind the Mirror the Muse Writes), co-authored with Julian Olivares, was highly praised for raising the profile of Spanish nuns who wrote poetry in that era and for its literary analysis of their work.

Beth met her future husband, Robert (Bob) Boyce, a petroleum geologist, at Wittenberg; they were married on August 24, 1968, in Canal Winchester, Ohio. Following their respective graduate work, Beth and Bob raised their two daughters, Laura and Claire, in San Francisco, Aberdeen (Scotland), Boulder and Houston, before retiring in the Portland area in 2005. She loved to travel, including thirteen trips to her beloved Spain. She was an active member of Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Houston, TX and Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland. Beth loved leading and participating in Spanish conversation groups, including one at Wilamette View, the retirement community where she and Bob lived since April 2023.

Her love of music was evident throughout her life. She played the flute, sang in church choirs, and took up the harp at age sixty to challenge herself. Beth had many creative hobbies, including cake decorating, sewing, quilting, and embroidery. She was generous with her creative projects, often sending thoughtful handmade gifts to friends and family. Wherever she lived, worked, or attended church, she made an effort to help others, especially those less fortunate. The importance of education and helping others are core values that Beth worked hard to instill in her daughters and her grandchildren and is a part of her ongoing legacy.

She is survived by her husband Bob, 80, of Milwaukie, daughters Laura Cramer of Issaquah, Washington and Claire and husband James Ellison of Katy, Texas, sister Margaret Goodlin of Columbia, Maryland, brother Carl Sievert of New York City, and four adored grandchildren – granddaughter Leila Cramer of Issaquah, WA, and grandsons Wyatt, Dylan, and Austin Ellison of Katy, TX.

A memorial service will be held at Augustana Lutheran Church in Portland, Oregon on August 31, 2025, at 2:00pm. Reception to follow. Donations in her honor can be made to the Augustana Memorial Fund