Bill died in Princeton June 25, 2014, at age 88. His Princeton classmates and friends knew him as he’s described in The New York Times’ death notice: “A dedicated, wise, generous husband, father, family man, and friend.”
Originally from Sewickley, Pa., he was a graduate of Mount Hermon School. Bill joined the Class of 1948 by what he considered a happy accident. After graduating from Mount Hermon, he was enrolled in the Navy V-12 unit at Franklin & Marshall College. But the Navy unexpectedly transferred that V-12 unit — or at least the enrollee Bolger — to the V-12 program at Princeton!
Bill had a varied, highly successful career of consulting and management in commercial real estate. He and his late wife of 53 years, Eugenie (“Genie”), retired near Guilford, Conn.
After Genie’s death, Bill moved to Princeton. There he continued or renewed ties with classmates at Reunions as well as in monthly ’48 lunches at the Nassau Club. (Bill’s Mount Hermon School classmate Charlton Price was a lifelong pal.)
In our 25th-reunion book, Bill noted: “I have progressed from security to non-security … the younger generation has taught me to become an authoritarian permissivist. I’ve progressed from being without apparent humility to apparent humility.”
Bill is survived by his second wife, Eva Heidmann; his sons, Stephen and Bruce; his siblings, Betty, David, Barbara, and Daniel; Eva’s daughters, Lily and Sofia; and many nephews and nieces.