Boyd Elbert Shriver was born August 12, 1909 in Harvard, Iowa to Olin and Ellenia E. (Collins) Shriver. He had a younger sister, Lorene. The family relocated to Weskan, Kansas by the 1920 U. S. Census, then lived in Lamar, Colorado in the 1930 census.

In 1926, Shriver enlisted in the United States Army. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corp in 1935. Service Number O-336523.

In 1940, Shriver was married and living in Fort Collins, Colorado where he was Commander of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in Fort Collins. Shriver had two children, Gene and Allen, with his first wife. The couple divorced and Shriver then married Henrietta Oliver in Fort Collins in November 1943.

In July 1941, CPT Shriver was serving with the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He then served in Tunisia for several months early in 1943.

In June 1943 after returning from Tunisia, he was named director of personnel at Camp Adair in Oregon. In December 1943, Shriver was named the executive officer at Fort Snelling in Minnesota.

MAJ Shriver died of leukemia on January 5, 1945 at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington D. C.

Boyd Elbert Shriver was interred in Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins, Colorado.