David "Millwood" Yost Boyce of Millwood, Virginia, died November 13, 2011 in Bunker Hill West Virginia. He was 57.

Mr. Boyce was born April 5, 1954 in Winchester, Virginia, the son of William Lee and Lois Yost Boyce. He graduated from Randolph Macon Academy in Front Royal, Virginia, and received a Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of South Carolina. He earned a Master's Degree in U.S. History from New York University. He attended New York University as a Ph.D. candidate in American Colonial History. Mr. Boyce was a force for historic preservation and a well-respected authority on Virginia History. He was Executive Director of Oatlands Plantation, a property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He was also a paid consultant for regional historic and museum properties.

Additionally, he was very active in preservation and conservation issues confronting Loudoun County. Prior to his career in historic preservation, Mr. Boyce was the Executive Director of Downtown Berryville, Inc., part of the Virginia Main Street Program and earlier a Research and Development liaison for Hitachi America in New York where he resided for eight years before returning to Clarke County. In 2010, Mr. Boyce was named Executive Director of Long Branch Historic House and Farm in Clarke County, Virginia. At Oatlands, Mr. Boyce initiated the Winter Lecture Series "Conversations" and created the Douglas W. Hunt Center for Historical Studies as well as supervising many restoration and preservation projects, including the restoration of Oatlands 1810 greenhouse, the founding and opening of the Alice Dupont Mills Garden Library, and the restoration of the Eustis Garden Teahouse. Under Mr. Boyce's guidance, Oatlands enjoyed fiscal stability and successfully weathered increasing pressure from housing development interests in Northern Virginia. Mr. Boyce also forged relationships that led to many of Oatlands signature events, such as the Middleburg Kennel Club All Breeds Dog Show, the annual Oatlands High School Cross Country Multi State & Regional Invitational Meet and the annual Christmas Theatre.

As an authority on early Virginia history and a Carter family scholar, Mr. Boyce often gave entertaining and erudite lectures on Carter family history, especially as it related to Oatlands, a Carter plantation. He was frequently invited to lecture on a variety of other regional historical subjects and did so often. He served twice on the Winchester Star Leadership Awards Committee, which awards scholarships to high school students and was a past president and board member of the Millwood Country Club, a past board member of the Mosby Heritage Association, and a past member of the Winchester Regional Commission.

He also served on the boards of the John S. Mosby Heritage Area Association, the Clarke County Historic Preservation Commission, and the Claremont Trust and was a frequent guest lecturer for Historic Preservation classes at Mary Washington University and Northern Virginia Community College. He was a lifelong member of Grace Episcopal Church in Berryville, Virginia. He married Melissa Adeane Phipps on November 17, 1984.

The marriage ended in divorce. He is survived by his two children, Justin Phipps Boyce and Emma Pleydell-Bouverie Boyce of New Orleans, Louisiana and his brother, William Lee Boyce Jr. of Winchester, Virginia. A memorial service will be held at Grace Episcopal Church in Berryville, Virginia on Saturday, November 19th; a visitation will begin at 10 AM and the service will begin at 11 AM. A reception will follow the service at Long Branch Historic House and Farm in Millwood, Virginia.

Burial will be private.

Pallbearers are George Greenhalgh, William Hair, Bev McKay, Jesse Russell, Charles (Chip) Schutte, Snowden Clarke, Philip Glaize, Patrick Shay and Robert Smalley, Jr. Memorial contributions may be made to Oatlands, 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, Virginia, 20175 or Long Branch Historic House and Farm, P.O. Box 241, Millwood, Virginia, 22646. Arrangements are being handled by Enders & Shirley Funeral Home, Berryville. To view obituary or send condolences online, please visit www.endersandshirley.com.