Harvey Boardley Lammers, 93, of New Bedford passed away Friday August 9, 2024 after a brief illness with his family by his side.  He was the husband of Louise (Ross) Lammers; they had recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.

Born in New Bedford, the son of the late Alexander B. and Nannie Genevieve (Boardley) Lammers, he lived in New Bedford all of his life.

Harvey was the first African American bus driver employed by the Union Street Railway, and continued on as a driver for SRTA for many years until his retirement.  He has also been employed as an auxiliary police officer for the City of New Bedford.

He was a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Union Baptist Church.  In his younger days, he was a championship boxer at the amateur and professional levels. He had been the New England Golden Glove middleweight boxing champion.  In 1952, he participated in the U.S. Olympic team trials having been defeated by Floyd Patterson, (by decision), the eventual Olympic gold medalist in the middleweight division. He was also well-known as an exceptional self-taught harmonica player.

He is survived by his wife, Louise; three children, Richard Dias, Karen Quinones and her husband Joel Quinones, Sr., and Cheryl Lammers; two sisters, Patricia Victor and Edith Lammers; seven grandchildren, Kendra Quinones, Kelsey Quinones, Joel Quinones, Jr., Jordan Quinones, McKenzie Andrade, Jhaden Reis, and Marcel Dias; seven great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was the brother of the late Earle Lammers, David Lammers, Pearl Wixon, and James Lammers.

The family would like to thank Southcoast VNA for their exceptional care and special thanks to all of his PCA workers who took care of him throughout his period of declining health.

His funeral service will be held on Friday August 16th at 10 AM at the Saunders-Dwyer Home for Funerals, 495 Park St., New Bedford.  Burial will follow in Rural Cemetery.  Visiting hours will be on Thursday August 15th from 4-7 PM.  For online condolence book, please visit www.saundersdwyer.com.