A native of Story City, Iowa, Bernice Larson Boyum enlisted in the Navy's Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES) in 1943. She was stationed at Columbus, Ohio and later at the Great Lakes Naval Station in Chicago where she served as a supply office worker, achieving the rank of Storekeeper 2nd Class. She was honorably discharged in 1946. Boyum used the GI Bill to attend Luther College and found employment in Des Moines as a social worker with Lutheran Social Services.
She later became Dean of Women at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa.
From the description of Papers of Bernice Larson Boyum, 1943-1993 (bulk 1943-1948). (University of Iowa Libraries). WorldCat record id: 233107098