Mary Lou Bolinger, 88, passed away Monday, June 1, 2009, in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Burial: Mary Lou will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery next to her beloved husband following a small family service there.
Born in Bay City, Mich., to railroad engineer Charles M. Woodbury and his wife, Alice McLeod Woodbury, Mary Lou was a petite and vivacious girl who thrived in the outdoors. She loved skiing, ice skating and tobogganing in the winter resort of Grayling, where she eventually met the man who was to become her husband. She especially loved stays at the Bay City Hunting and Fishing Club, gathering with the family in their log cabin from the 1800s overlooking the AuSable River and eating fresh-caught trout for breakfast. Mary Lou graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in liberal arts in 1943. While at college she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, president of the Women's League, on the Panhellenic committee and, after school, took part in the American Association of University Women. Mary Lou's love for the University of Michigan never waned throughout her life, and she brought out the pennants, mugs and everything maize and blue for Wolverine football games each fall.
William O. "Bill" Bolinger and Mary Lou were married in May 1944 and began a marriage that moved around the world with Bill's Air Force career. Their only son, Tim, was born in 1945 in Bay City while Bill was in the Pacific at the end of World War II. After Bill retired from the Air Force, they moved to Fort Worth, where he had a second career with American Airlines. There Mary Lou was the neighborhood "grandmother," baking her famed chocolatechip cookies for everyone. One young neighborhood boy, now grown, wrote, "When I was growing up, Mary Lou always took an interest in whatever I was doing at the time. Sports, Boy Scouts, band concerts; she and Bill would always be there. Every time I saw her she would ask about whatever I was into that day. And, she wouldn't just ask to ask; she really wanted to know specifics and would listen to what I had to say. And like all good grandparents (which is how I viewed her) she always made sure that I was well fed, usually with cookies! Little did I know at the time but Mary Lou and Bill would serve as role models for how I would live my life as a husband and father. Their devotion to each other was so unmistakable. They were always together and would always speak highly of each other."
After moving to Arizona in 2003, Mary Lou especially enjoyed spending time at Hidden Meadow Ranch in the White Mountains -- soaking up the clear mountain air, eating great food, petting the horses and being entertained by all the activity. Her Ranch family took very good care of her, and she loved them all. Mary Lou Bolinger had a zest for life, loved to be on the go, was kind and loving. Our lives have been immeasurably enriched by knowing her.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years.
Survivors: Her son, Timothy William Bolinger and his wife, Kathryn "Casey" Bolinger, of Scottsdale; her step-grandsons, Jack Sharp and Jon Sharp and their wives and children; her nieces and nephews and their families; and her favorite dog in the world, Ghirardelli.
Published in Star-Telegram on 6/7/2009
Burial: Mary Lou will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery next to her beloved husband following a small family service there.
Born in Bay City, Mich., to railroad engineer Charles M. Woodbury and his wife, Alice McLeod Woodbury, Mary Lou was a petite and vivacious girl who thrived in the outdoors. She loved skiing, ice skating and tobogganing in the winter resort of Grayling, where she eventually met the man who was to become her husband. She especially loved stays at the Bay City Hunting and Fishing Club, gathering with the family in their log cabin from the 1800s overlooking the AuSable River and eating fresh-caught trout for breakfast. Mary Lou graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in liberal arts in 1943. While at college she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, president of the Women's League, on the Panhellenic committee and, after school, took part in the American Association of University Women. Mary Lou's love for the University of Michigan never waned throughout her life, and she brought out the pennants, mugs and everything maize and blue for Wolverine football games each fall.
William O. "Bill" Bolinger and Mary Lou were married in May 1944 and began a marriage that moved around the world with Bill's Air Force career. Their only son, Tim, was born in 1945 in Bay City while Bill was in the Pacific at the end of World War II. After Bill retired from the Air Force, they moved to Fort Worth, where he had a second career with American Airlines. There Mary Lou was the neighborhood "grandmother," baking her famed chocolatechip cookies for everyone. One young neighborhood boy, now grown, wrote, "When I was growing up, Mary Lou always took an interest in whatever I was doing at the time. Sports, Boy Scouts, band concerts; she and Bill would always be there. Every time I saw her she would ask about whatever I was into that day. And, she wouldn't just ask to ask; she really wanted to know specifics and would listen to what I had to say. And like all good grandparents (which is how I viewed her) she always made sure that I was well fed, usually with cookies! Little did I know at the time but Mary Lou and Bill would serve as role models for how I would live my life as a husband and father. Their devotion to each other was so unmistakable. They were always together and would always speak highly of each other."
After moving to Arizona in 2003, Mary Lou especially enjoyed spending time at Hidden Meadow Ranch in the White Mountains -- soaking up the clear mountain air, eating great food, petting the horses and being entertained by all the activity. Her Ranch family took very good care of her, and she loved them all. Mary Lou Bolinger had a zest for life, loved to be on the go, was kind and loving. Our lives have been immeasurably enriched by knowing her.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years.
Survivors: Her son, Timothy William Bolinger and his wife, Kathryn "Casey" Bolinger, of Scottsdale; her step-grandsons, Jack Sharp and Jon Sharp and their wives and children; her nieces and nephews and their families; and her favorite dog in the world, Ghirardelli.
Published in Star-Telegram on 6/7/2009
Mary Lou Bolinger, 88, passed away Monday, June 1, 2009, in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Burial: Mary Lou will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery next to her beloved husband following a small family service there.
Born in Bay City, Mich., to railroad engineer Charles M. Woodbury and his wife, Alice McLeod Woodbury, Mary Lou was a petite and vivacious girl who thrived in the outdoors. She loved skiing, ice skating and tobogganing in the winter resort of Grayling, where she eventually met the man who was to become her husband. She especially loved stays at the Bay City Hunting and Fishing Club, gathering with the family in their log cabin from the 1800s overlooking the AuSable River and eating fresh-caught trout for breakfast. Mary Lou graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in liberal arts in 1943. While at college she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, president of the Women's League, on the Panhellenic committee and, after school, took part in the American Association of University Women. Mary Lou's love for the University of Michigan never waned throughout her life, and she brought out the pennants, mugs and everything maize and blue for Wolverine football games each fall.
William O. "Bill" Bolinger and Mary Lou were married in May 1944 and began a marriage that moved around the world with Bill's Air Force career. Their only son, Tim, was born in 1945 in Bay City while Bill was in the Pacific at the end of World War II. After Bill retired from the Air Force, they moved to Fort Worth, where he had a second career with American Airlines. There Mary Lou was the neighborhood "grandmother," baking her famed chocolatechip cookies for everyone. One young neighborhood boy, now grown, wrote, "When I was growing up, Mary Lou always took an interest in whatever I was doing at the time. Sports, Boy Scouts, band concerts; she and Bill would always be there. Every time I saw her she would ask about whatever I was into that day. And, she wouldn't just ask to ask; she really wanted to know specifics and would listen to what I had to say. And like all good grandparents (which is how I viewed her) she always made sure that I was well fed, usually with cookies! Little did I know at the time but Mary Lou and Bill would serve as role models for how I would live my life as a husband and father. Their devotion to each other was so unmistakable. They were always together and would always speak highly of each other."
After moving to Arizona in 2003, Mary Lou especially enjoyed spending time at Hidden Meadow Ranch in the White Mountains -- soaking up the clear mountain air, eating great food, petting the horses and being entertained by all the activity. Her Ranch family took very good care of her, and she loved them all. Mary Lou Bolinger had a zest for life, loved to be on the go, was kind and loving. Our lives have been immeasurably enriched by knowing her.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years.
Survivors: Her son, Timothy William Bolinger and his wife, Kathryn "Casey" Bolinger, of Scottsdale; her step-grandsons, Jack Sharp and Jon Sharp and their wives and children; her nieces and nephews and their families; and her favorite dog in the world, Ghirardelli.
Published in Star-Telegram on 6/7/2009
Burial: Mary Lou will be interred in Arlington National Cemetery next to her beloved husband following a small family service there.
Born in Bay City, Mich., to railroad engineer Charles M. Woodbury and his wife, Alice McLeod Woodbury, Mary Lou was a petite and vivacious girl who thrived in the outdoors. She loved skiing, ice skating and tobogganing in the winter resort of Grayling, where she eventually met the man who was to become her husband. She especially loved stays at the Bay City Hunting and Fishing Club, gathering with the family in their log cabin from the 1800s overlooking the AuSable River and eating fresh-caught trout for breakfast. Mary Lou graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in liberal arts in 1943. While at college she was a member of Gamma Phi Beta sorority, president of the Women's League, on the Panhellenic committee and, after school, took part in the American Association of University Women. Mary Lou's love for the University of Michigan never waned throughout her life, and she brought out the pennants, mugs and everything maize and blue for Wolverine football games each fall.
William O. "Bill" Bolinger and Mary Lou were married in May 1944 and began a marriage that moved around the world with Bill's Air Force career. Their only son, Tim, was born in 1945 in Bay City while Bill was in the Pacific at the end of World War II. After Bill retired from the Air Force, they moved to Fort Worth, where he had a second career with American Airlines. There Mary Lou was the neighborhood "grandmother," baking her famed chocolatechip cookies for everyone. One young neighborhood boy, now grown, wrote, "When I was growing up, Mary Lou always took an interest in whatever I was doing at the time. Sports, Boy Scouts, band concerts; she and Bill would always be there. Every time I saw her she would ask about whatever I was into that day. And, she wouldn't just ask to ask; she really wanted to know specifics and would listen to what I had to say. And like all good grandparents (which is how I viewed her) she always made sure that I was well fed, usually with cookies! Little did I know at the time but Mary Lou and Bill would serve as role models for how I would live my life as a husband and father. Their devotion to each other was so unmistakable. They were always together and would always speak highly of each other."
After moving to Arizona in 2003, Mary Lou especially enjoyed spending time at Hidden Meadow Ranch in the White Mountains -- soaking up the clear mountain air, eating great food, petting the horses and being entertained by all the activity. Her Ranch family took very good care of her, and she loved them all. Mary Lou Bolinger had a zest for life, loved to be on the go, was kind and loving. Our lives have been immeasurably enriched by knowing her.
Mary Lou was preceded in death by her husband of 60 years.
Survivors: Her son, Timothy William Bolinger and his wife, Kathryn "Casey" Bolinger, of Scottsdale; her step-grandsons, Jack Sharp and Jon Sharp and their wives and children; her nieces and nephews and their families; and her favorite dog in the world, Ghirardelli.
Published in Star-Telegram on 6/7/2009
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