‘He genuinely cared about Bloomingdale’: Village trustee dies
For all his adventures around the world, Bill Bolen was rooted in Bloomingdale.
A true outdoorsman, Bolen went on backpacking trips to the Sierra Nevada. He explored Hawaii, Europe and Asia later in life.
But even as his kids grew up, Bolen continued coaching youth sports in Bloomingdale.
Bolen, who died at age 67 on Jan. 20, served more than 20 years as a Bloomingdale trustee. Bolen had the second-longest tenure among board members.
“The one thing about Bill and the first thing that always came to mind was how much he loved our community and how much he loved Bloomingdale,” Village President Franco Coladipietro said. “His passion for our community, the amount of time that he spent in his duties as trustee, was just amazing.”
A resident of Bloomingdale since 1990, Bolen contributed to both the Youth Basketball Association and the Bloomingdale Baseball and Softball Association. In 2003 ‒ the year he was appointed to a seat on the village board ‒ Bolen received Bloomingdale's “Character Counts” award after he was nominated by a park district commissioner for teaching athletes fair play.
“Good parks and good schools are the fabric of a community,” Bolen told the Daily Herald shortly before he joined the village board. “They’re what make Bloomingdale the community it is.”
Bolen, a Kankakee native, studied geology at Illinois State University. He worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 33 years in the Superfund division as a project manager for toxic waste cleanup, according to his obituary. Near the end of his EPA career, Bolen focused on projects to mitigate invasive species.
“He really is going to be missed on our board,” Coladipietro said. “And that's because of the person that he was and because of the insight, the judgment and the experience that he brought to our board.”
Former Bloomingdale Village President Bob Iden recommended Bolen’s appointment to the board. Bolen won his first full term in 2005. A purple sash has been draped over his chair in village board chambers.
“He genuinely cared about Bloomingdale,” Village Administrator Pietro Scalera said. “He was the type of trustee that would always try to find a solution to a problem and always willing to do what he felt was best for the community.”
Bolen also was an active member of St. Walter parish, serving as a lector, a catechist teacher and a volunteer for a homeless shelter. He liked to garden, growing vegetables and flowers.
“He loved life, and he experienced life to its fullest,” Coladipietro said.
Bolen is survived by his daughter and son and two grandchildren.
A visitation will be held from 3 until 6 p.m., with a memorial service starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 10, at Bucaro Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 485 W. Army Trail Road, in Bloomingdale.
Instead of flowers, memorial donations may be made to DuPagePads at dupagepads.org. The nonprofit organization provides emergency shelter to families who are experiencing homelessness.