- Date Of Birth: June 29, 1926
- Date Of Death: December 26, 2015
- State: Arizona
Mary Edrienne Davis Bol (Mary-Ed)
29 June 1926 – 26 December 2015
A resident of Paradise Valley for over 50 years, Mary-Ed died the day after Christmas at Scottsdale Memory Care.
Born a 4th generation San Franciscan (she corrected any who dared refer to the city as “Frisco”), she was the only child of Mary (May) Tweedy and Percy Lionel Davis. She cherished her lineage as the 6th “Mary” in an unbroken mother-daughter chain.
She is survived by 4 children, who obediently followed orders to arrive at intervals of 23 months, (providing her children with a unique perspective of procreation): Jody Bol (CO), Nancy McNerney (AZ), Klaas Bradford Bol (CA) & Keith Bol (AZ/CA)
Her surviving grandchildren include Pathik Evan & Alexandra Bollaidlaw, Jeffrey & Laura McNerney, Allyson-Rose Saten, Jacoba & Ansje & Josina Bol and Erika Goodman, Edric & Estelle Bol, and a great granddaughter, Brooklynn Goodman.
One of her most treasured activities as a child was time spent at summer camp. Not only did that provide her with sibling substitutes, she practiced skills that she would later share with many: Campfire singing, swimming, canoeing, tennis and horseback riding were some of her favorites. She continued as a counselor into her teens.
As a student at Stanford she met her husband, Klaas Bol, when correcting papers for a Chemistry class. Their mutual delight in dancing continued throughout their shared lives. She chaired the vocational club at Stanford, served on yearbook committees, The Christian Science Org and the athletic club. She became Mary -Ed when there were 4 other Mary’s in her sorority. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, she graduated in 1947 with a degree in Economics.
For ten years, Mary-Ed followed her Engineering/MBA husband to corporate jobs in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Her firm ideas about child-rearing were challenged by kids who didn’t eat everything offered, toilet train by 15 months, learn to read by osmosis, or become extraverts. They thought their parents were fighting until it was explained that they were reviewing duplicate bridge hands. In Pennsylvania, she joined the neighborhood “big boys” in sled chains, hoping to make it across the narrow stream bridge without breaking through ice. In Ohio, she led forays to the local pond and Ohio River for ice skating lessons and parties.
Mary-Ed’s rearing in Christian Science was put to the test when a child was diagnosed with leukemia. The medical community offered no alternatives, and Klaas supported her decision to “pray without ceasing” . That child, and all siblings, later followed their dad’s example and became competitive swimmers. Mary-Ed spent hours at pools timing, organizing and cheering. The offspring went for blue ribbons and A’s, learned the Stanford fight song and hymns.
A move to the valley in 1962 was a life changer. Despite initially finding the desert barren, the Bols eventually landscaped with ocotillo, saguaro and palo verde. When Westinghouse wanted to transfer them to Connecticut, they decided that Klaas would strike out on his own. He founded Bolco and entered the commercial real estate and construction businesses.
With children in school, Mary-Ed’s activity level increased. As a Girl Scout leader she introduced girls whose idea of camping was lying in a sleeping bag watching TV, to fire building and pitching tents. Her children grew up without a TV. Family vacations found her cooking over a gas stove or fire pit. Later, their conservation convictions led to family white-water canoeing and burro trips with the Sierra Club. Grandchildren were treated to trips with Gram when they turned 11. She and Klass were avid square dancers at Dorothy Patterson’s Ride n Rock Ranch, decked out in petticoats, flounce and bolo tie. As a swim instructor, she taught blind kids, scouts and assorted neighbors. Her sons had so much experience as “victims” that they anticipated the new life savers’ moves. She successfully pushed both into becoming Eagle Scouts.
As the result of a Boy Scout project with a son, she developed a bee keeping business. Bol’s Bees kept multiple hives, peddling luscious dark desert and citrus honey comb to stores and friends. Her display of pollen from different months, ranging in color from yellow to red to greenish, won first prize in the Arizona state fair – and stayed on her shelf for years.
