An only child, Margaret Annis Boys was born in Anadarko, Oklahoma, on June 27, 1909 to A. Thompson Boys, an attorney, and Mabel Parish Boys. In 1911, the family moved to Oklahoma City, where Miss Boys graduated from Central High School in 1927. She went on to graduate from the University of Oklahoma in 1930, and began a long career as an educator.
She taught at several Oklahoma City elementary schools before serving as principal at Madison, Putnam Heights and Buchanan elementary schools. She retired in 1972 after a 42-year career.
Miss Boys enjoyed traveling with friends throughout the United States and Europe, but she always said her favorite place was Oklahoma. She loved to go on Sunday drives into the Oklahoma countryside where she would identify the native flowers and trees for her companions.
Miss Boys died on February 16, 1990 at the age of 80. Soon after, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation received a gift of $1.5 million from her estate with one simple instruction — that her gift be used to beautify public lands in Oklahoma County.
The Margaret Annis Boys Trust has supported hundreds of public beautification projects in all corners of Oklahoma County since its inception in 1991. Projects include the Margaret Annis Boys Arboretum at Will Rogers Gardens, plantings for public schools, trees for Lake Hefner Trails, plantings at the Myriad Gardens, the Dog Park at Lake Hefner and dozens of other beautification projects along roadways, in neighborhoods, parks and other public lands.
Read more:
2004 - Paw Park: Two Acres of Heaven
2008 - A Gift of Beauty
2013 - Reviving Crystal Lake