 Campus Closeup: Barb Boyer
Barb Boyer (Dining Services) struggled to identify something people would be surprised to learn about her because she leaves so little to guesswork. “I’m pretty open. In fact, my friends are usually saying, ‘TMI, Barb.’ Too much information.”
As a principal account clerk, Boyer encounters plenty of financial information on a daily basis. She processes invoices from the five Dining Services retail operations: Smoothie King/Temaki & Tea, Melted, Fieras, the Marketplace and the Wildcat Den. She also records manager credit card activity through the Concur system and runs encumbrance and budget reports. Her favorite part of the job is not found on paper, but in personal interactions with students she sees regularly who work in her office on the main level of the University Center or in the Den upstairs.
Boyer said math wasn’t necessarily her strongest or favorite subject growing up. “I think it’s more my memory with numbers. I discovered a niche for myself in accounting and continued in that direction.”
After graduating from NMU with an associate degree in office information processing, Boyer worked as a maintenance department account clerk with American Airlines at its former location in Negaunee Township. She later served as an accountant with a forestry company. When the owners of that business retired, Boyer opted to be a stay-at-home mom until she had a desire to rejoin the workforce. In October 2010, she was hired as an account clerk III at NMU.
Boyer grew up in the Halfway area along the road to Big Bay. “My 8th grade class at Powell Township School had six students. I wish all classes could be that small because you got a lot of personal attention. For high school, students from that area had to go into Marquette—now it’s Negaunee. I remember having to be at the bus stop at 5:30 in the morning.”
Now a Skandia resident, Boyer is married to Russell, a corrections officer. They have three children: Brenna, who recently married and has a daughter, Emma; and teenagers Jerry and Annie Lynn, who attend Gwinn High School.
“My kids are my life. I keep busy with their activities. My youngest daughter plays hockey and likes to barrel race with her horse. We have horses and chickens at our place. My son is an avid hunter.”
Boyer does manage to find time to pursue her own hobbies of knitting, sewing, quilting and gardening. She is also a fan of the Detroit Red Wings and Green Bay Packers.
“It gets interesting in our house because my husband is a Lions fan. Nothing gets thrown and no one gets hurt, but we do share words back and forth. And if the Red Wings are playing the Blackhawks, sometimes I’ll cheer for Chicago just to be a devil’s advocate and torture him a little. It’s all in good fun.” |
