Mr. Jacob “Cully” “James” Boykin was born on June 6, 1944 in the small town of McKenna, Alabama on a small farm that his family owned. At the age of 5 years old, his father, in search of a better life, brought him and his siblings to live in Prichard, Alabama where he stayed until his teenage years. In his teenage years, Mr. Boykin’s father moved him and his siblings to New Orleans, LA where they resided in the lower-ninth ward neighborhood while his father worked a fruitful career as a long shoreman. While in New Orleans, Mr. Boykin earned his high school degree from the George Washington Carver High School and worked various jobs such as delivering Bunny Bread and distributing Coca Cola and Pepsi products.

But Mr. Boykin ultimately found career success with the City of New Orleans where he was responsible for a team that delivered and set up equipment for various events across the city. While working for the City of New Orleans, Mr. Boykin went on a blind date and met and married the love of his life, Wilma Baldwin. Mr. Boykin said that he remembered his wife as not only a successful nurse and avid church community leader but also as the most beautiful and intelligent woman he had ever had a relationship with. And it was through this beloved marriage that Mr. Boykin became a hero when he adopted and raised Wilma’s grandson Christopher David West, Jr after she died in 2004.

Mr. Boykin did not have an easy life. His life was filled with constant struggle that he overcame time after time. Mr. Boykin changed homes several times as a kid; helped raise his younger siblings, nieces, and nephews; saved his family from neck deep water during Hurricane Betsy; supported his wife in raising his two stepsons; survived the U.S. Jim Crow-era deep south; raised his step-grandson; and survived both Hurricane Katrina and a house fire. And through all of this, he never complained or made others feel as if they owed him. Mr. Boykin was the definition of a servant leader.

Ironically, it was after Hurricane Katrina when Mr. Boykin finally found peace when he and his step-grandson relocated to the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans and finally Metairie, Louisiana. Against all odds, Mr. Boykin, with the support of his surviving stepson Paul West, put his step-grandson Christopher David West, Jr through high school at De La Salle in Uptown New Orleans, undergraduate studies at Babson College in Boston, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business in Santa Clara County in California. And before he left this world, he got to see his adopted son Christopher David West, Jr marry Jamila Mame, who reigned from the Oromo region of Ethiopia. With only a high school degree, Mr. Boykin accomplished more than most men could even dream of.

Mr. Boykin’s legacy in this world will be continued by his adopted son Christopher David West, Jr and daughter-in-law Jamila Mame; five sisters, Inez Boykin, Sherri Boykin, Terri Nedd, Cynthia Ashford, and Carolyn Dale; brother Donnell and brother-in-law Willie Ashford; several nieces, nephews, and cousins, especially Tharrison Boykin, Jharritson Boykin, Zharrison Nedd, Shayne Boykin, Ashley Boykin, and Maggie Ashford; stepson Paul T. West; and life-long best friends Terry and Joshua Bartholomew. Mr. Boykin was blessed to have his adopted son, Christopher David West, Jr, by his side on his final bed of rest as he spoke his last words: “this is a good thing, no more pain, no more medications”. On his bed of final rest, Mr. Boykin assured those he loved most that it was time for him to return to his Lord.

Mr. Boykin left an impression on this world that would be considered unthinkable for most men. From a humble start in McKenna, Alabama to the famous city of New Orleans, Louisiana, Mr. Boykin laid the foundation for those after him to rise to heights that were once considered impossible. 

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