One year after his dying dog; was euthanized, Kevin Boyle is confident Thor will some day bark, wag his tail and hike with him again through the Blue Hills.
Thor - a 140-pound Akita whom Boyle describes as "my kid" - is frozen at at the Cryonics Institute in Clinton Township, outside Detroit.
"It's likely I'll be alive when the technology is here to bring him back," said Boyle, 42, of Brockton.
Thor is among 42 pets and 72 humans who have been preserved and are considered patients at the Cryonics Institute, which has been in operation since 1977.
Boyle and his 87-year-old grandmother - a Stoughton resident who did not want to be identified - are both members of Cryonics Institute and prepared to join Thor as a "patient" there.
"If I go early, I could end up in the same cryostat as Thor," said Boyle, a computer programmer and part-time truck driver.
A card in his wallet describes the process for preparing his body for the process. The same information is in a necklace he wears when he lifts weights at a Brockton gym.
According to the Cryonics Institute, as soon as possible after legal death, a member patient is "infused with a substance to prevent ice formation, cooled to a temperature where physical decay essentially stops, and is then maintained indefinitely in cryostasis."
"When and if future medical technology allows, our member patients hope to be healed, rejuvenated, revived and awakened to a greatly extended life in youthful good health, free from disease or the aging process," the web site says.
Cryogenics made headlines when his son arranged for baseball great Ted Williams' body to be frozen at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation of Scottsdale, Arizona and family discord erupted over the fate of his remains. The baseball legend, who died in 2002, is still preserved there, along with the remains of his son, John Henry Williams, who died after the dispute.
At the Michigan institute, membership is growing - 570 members, 245 with contracts - as of Feb. 1, according to facilities manager Andy Zawacki. He said 100 people joined last year, compared to 10 to 15 new members enrolled annually in the early years. There are fewer than 10 members in Massachusetts, according to Boyle.
There are up to 12 people and/or pets in the large cryostats at the institute, Boyle said.
Boyle, who practices martial arts, is divorced and lives alone on a quiet street in Brockton lined with well-kept single-family houses. He does not have any children.
"Thor is my kid," he said.
He does not begrudge the $17,000 it cost to have Thor frozen. The cost of freezing a human is $28,000, for which Boyle said he has an insurance policy.
The large-boned muscular dog was diagnosed with a degenerative spinal disease in March 2004 and spent his last day at home on Feb. 8, 2005.
"With the heaviest heart I have ever had, I packed up my van with my girlfriend, Cheryl, and my now 12-year-old best friend," he wrote in a piece on cryonics.org.
Boyle became interested in cryonics as a young teen and was for a time an associate member of Cryonics Institute.
But it was not until he learned that Thor had limited time to live that he became a member of Cryonics Institute. Membership, which costs a one-time fee of $1,250 or $120 a year plus $75 initiation, is required to have a pet frozen.
"The idea is the structure is retained as close as possible after death," Boyle said. "They're in a a holding pattern until medical science advances."
He believes that may happen in his lifetime.
"It's a possibility," said Zawacki. "It depends on how quickly advances are made. I've seen predictions of 50 to 200 years or even sooner."
Cryonics Institute employs a cryobiologist and has a laboratory nearby, he said. Boyle attended the annual meeting at the Cryonics Institute in September.
Although his family is split on cryonics, Boyle said his mother signed documents necessary for both him and his grandmother to be frozen.
When his grandmother underwent surgery recently, the doctors were notified of her intent to be cryopreserved and ready to take the necessary steps, according to Boyle. He said doctors do not always cooperate with cryonics, although it is considered a medical, process and not actively opposed by any religion.
Cryonics gives hope that cremation and burial cannot give, Boyle said. "I know Thor is in good hands," he said. "There's somebody there 24 hours a day. It makes me feel better than knowing he's in the ground and there's nothing left of him."
When asked if he is getting another dog, Boyle tells people, "I still have a dog - Thor. I eagerly await the day science can return my buddy to me and we can go off to the Blue Hills for our next hike."
Elaine Allegrini can be reached at eallegrini@enterprisenews.com .