BOYLES EVERGREEN TREE FARM

The owners, Ralph and Karen Boyles didn't know the first thing about how to grow evergreen trees. Ralph worked on a tug boat in Staten Island, NY, and Karen is a full-time bus driver for the Lakeview School District. They had been married for over 20 years and were raising two teenage daughters and resided in Cortland, Ohio.  Ralph and Karen purchased the evergreen tree farm in January of 1989. They had stumbled upon the farm while looking at the house that shared the driveway to the  farm for Ralph's brother and his family who were relocating from Tennesee.   

 

The farm was more of a hobby for Ralph and Karen. Ralph spent a large amount of his time on the farm when he was not on the tug boats, and Karen spent her time at the farm when she was not driving bus. They attended classes and seminars to learn about evergreen trees and soil types. It wasn't too long after that they started planting seedlings. Family members and friends not only helped plant trees over the years, but also helped out on the farm during the holiday seasons. Ralph and Karen had joined Northeast Ohio Christmas Tree Growers Association, where they learned from other growers and shared their stoies as well. Ralph retired from the tug boat, and the farm became his full-time hobby.  Ralph would be at the farm rain or shine and often would come home with some stories to share at the dinner table.   

 

Ralph enjoyed "tinkering" at the farm and even built his very own hydraulic tree digger that is used on the farm for digging and balling trees today. Ralph and Karen both enjoyed the outdoors and hunting. Ralph found hunting on the farm to be enoyable with his buddies and even built two tree forts that hold a lot of great memories among his hunting buddies. 

 

In November of 2010, Ralph suddenly became ill and almost lost his life at that time. He ended up in a coma and was placed on life support. The family was told he had a short time to live, as his body was shutting down and the cause was unknown as to why. Our family had to decide what to do with the farm.  We decided to keep the farm open knowing what the farm meant to Ralph. Karen, spent her time at the hospital by Ralph's side and relied on family and friends to tend to the farm. Ralph's health continued to spiral out of control but the family wasn't about to give up on him and made the decision to have him moved to the Cleveland Clinic on Christmas Eve.  Ralph ended up spending months in ICU fighting for his life with his wife beside him every minute.

 

Ralph's time on earth was not done as he pulled through with a lot of hard work and was able to return to his home once again. Our families lives had changed in many ways.  The illness that nearly took Ralph's life had left him weak, unable to walk freely, and he had very little mobility in his right arm. He was placed on kidney dialysis and had to endure several surgeries. During this time, Ralph never once gave up hope of once again being able to walk and regain the ability to use his right arm. He underwent physical therapy and was able to walk short distances with a brace on his leg and a walker, but mostly relied on his scooter to get him around. 

 

Ralph never gave up and was determined to get back on the farm. He would go out and sit in the barn while Karen would do mowing or trimming just to be on the farm again.  Ralph's determination paid off when he was able to once again get on the steiner with the help of his wife Karen. A moment he was very proud of.

 

It is with deep sadness that on September 8th, 2012, One day before Ralph and Karen would have celebrated their 41st wedding anniversery, Ralph's health took a sudden turn for the worst, and he passed away leaving his loving wife, family and friends.

 

Today, Boyles Evergreen Tree Farm is still ran by Karen with the help of family and friends. Karen is still a full time bus driver and spends her free time caring for the farm knowing that it holds a special piece of Ralph.