University of Idaho Athletics

Stories about Packey Boyle abound.  Many a former Vandal has a tale to tell about the man who served as Idaho’s head athletic trainer from 1954-68.

What they may not have known was the legacy of humility and giving for which he was known in every community in which he lived. Or the remarkable life he led before moving to Moscow.

He was recognized professionally at the highest level as a member of the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame and the Idaho Sports Hall of Fame as well as serving as the trainer for the U.S. ski team in 1950, and later was the head athletic trainer for the 1960 Winter Games at Squaw Valley.
In a 1968 article about his pending retirement, he said of the many honors and awards he received in his lifetime he was most proud of being an honorary member of the University of Idaho Alumni Association.

Prior to his move to Moscow, he and his wife, Dorothy, made Sun Valley, Idaho, their home.  Boyle didn’t just tend to the skiers who made their way to his office, he was devoted to the high school football team and voluntarily served as the athletic trainer for Wood River High School. So much was he beloved by the Sun Valley area, Wood River High School established the Packey Boyle Trophy in 1965 for the football team’s most inspirational player.

Boyle was the only one of Anna and Patrick Boyle’s three sons to be born in the United States. He grew up in Spring Valley, Ill. As a youngster, he was bigger than most his age and he took some liberties with the truth and enlisted in the Marines when he was 14. He saw action in France during WWI but returned home safely to finish high school and set about on a career of tending to others.

He played football at and graduated from St. Bedes College in Peru, Ill. He later returned to teach physical education but along the way he spent five seasons with the Moline Indians professional football team. While he had a passion for the game, playing football in those days didn’t provide a living.

He found his life’s way when he enrolled in the Still School of Osteopathy in Des Moines. His career was born. Boyle hung his shingle in Nebraska City and, despite the Great Depression looming over the rest of the country, made a living as a doctor of Osteopathy. As it happened, Nebraska City’s location on the Union Pacific railroad route provided him the path to the next stage in his life.

Recruited to the Central Idaho ski resort of Sun Valley by railroad officials, he made it his home for more than 20 years. It’s where he met his wife, Dorothy, and where he earned a reputation as a first-rate athletic trainer. While many of his patients were the stars who flocked to Sun Valley to ski and be seen, he never relented in his devotion to youth athletics.

Boyle died in 1972 but he and Dorothy made their marks on Moscow and the University of Idaho. He founded the “junior and pee wee” baseball league and both were active in Moscow’s civic clubs – the American Legion, Moose and Elks Lodge. Feb. 26, 1968 was proclaimed Packey Boyle Day to honor his retirement. They were the first recipients of the ‘Moscow Gold Card,’ which granted recipients lifetime free admission to Moscow High School events for their dedication to Moscow youth sports.

As you can see, Boyle lived a life of giving and dedication, compassion and honor. We are proud to call him a Vandal – more proud to have him in the Vandal Athletics Hall of Fame.