Joyce E. Boldon

Died: Friday, June 7th, 2024

Memorial Service: 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at First Presbyterian Church (2112 Rudolph Road, Eau Claire) with Rev. Kathy Reid Walker officiating

Visitation: from 9:45 a.m. until time of service at church on Saturday

Interment: Rest Haven Cemetery, Town of Washington, Wisconsin

In lieu of flowers, please send memorials in memory of Joyce to the First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire, Grace Foundation, Oakwood Health Services, or St. Croix Hospice.

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Joyce Betty (Froehlich) Boldon, age 92, of Eau Claire, passed away peacefully on Friday, June 7, 2024 at River Pines Long Term Care Center in Altoona, Wisconsin surrounded by her family.

Joyce was born on June 25, 1931 in Chippewa Falls, WI to the late Otto and Betty (Gredig) Froehlich. She attended Boyd Grade School and Holcombe High School, graduating in 1948 at the age of 16. Joyce married Eli (Mac) Boldon on October 14, 1950 at the First Presbyterian Church in Cornell, WI. They were married for more than 73 years and blessed with four children, eight grandchildren, and four great grandchildren.

Growing up on a family farm near Holcombe, WI made for an interesting life indeed. In her younger years, Joyce spoke Schweitzer- Deutsch (Swiss German) at home, Polish on the playground, and English in the classroom. Joyce was an excellent student. In high school, she was active in orchestra and pep band, playing the trumpet. She was in Glee Club, Operetta, Annual Staff, Class Play and Forensics. She was a cheerleader for Holcombe High, with her favorite sport being basketball and was named Prom Queen her senior year. Joyce spent her summers working on the family farm with her brothers, Brice and Bob, and her sister, Gladys, helping to milk 18 cows by hand. Summertime was a lot of work for Joyce and the family, especially when her father Otto and mother Betty left the farm to make cheese near Conrath, WI.

Following graduation from High School, Joyce and a friend moved to New Auburn, WI for a summer to waitress at the Ferndale Resort on Chain Lake in Chippewa County. There, she met her future husband Mac - a fisherman's guide for patrons in the area. Determined to get a career, in the fall of 1948 Joyce moved to Edina, MN to attend the Minnesota School of Business graduating in 1950 and working as a professional secretary for an executive at Donaldsons.

After 4 months at Donaldsons, life and love had a way of changing plans. Joyce returned to Ferndale and became engaged. She then married Mac and became a mother and homemaker. She raised her children to believe in God, Jesus Christ, and became active in the First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire as a Deacon, Elder, Sunday school teacher, President of Presbyterian Women, and a member of the Naomi Women's Circle. In 1972, with John & Peter then ages 9 & 10, Joyce felt able to begin a career as a payroll coordinator for the food services at the UWEC campus, where she worked until she retired in 1994.

Joyce loved her family and friends. She would ardently search out new recipes to cook and bake for dinner, and in the fall she would can peaches, pears, beets, dill pickles, and sweet pickles into all hours of the night so her family could have foods made with love. The church would also have pickles to sell at the church bazaar!

In 1965, Mac and Joyce bought a cabin on McCann Lake. There, their family and friends enjoyed campfires, fishing, boating, waterskiing, swimming, card games and board games all the while Joyce made sure the family had three square meals each day. Those years were some of the happiest times of her life.

In addition to her family and friends, Joyce loved to travel. To blend those passions while being a first generation American, Joyce and Mac traveled to Switzerland where she was able to see the beauty of the Alps she had heard of all her life. She visited her mother's village (Splügen) and her father's city (Bern). She was able to meet three aunts and first & second cousins for the first time. In 1990, she and Mac went to Alaska to see where Mac's Father had worked on the ALCAN Highway to witness for themselves the beauty of the Klondikes. In 1996, she & Mac traveled to Mexico with her daughter's family to visit yet another culture.

Joyce is survived by her husband, Mac; children, Susan (Michael) Meska, Peter, and John (Melissa); grandchildren, Scott (Sari) Meska, Leigh Meska, Jamie O'Brien, Timothy O'Brien, Mackenzie (Moriah) Boldon, Marlena Boldon, Nicolas Boldon, and Gabriel Boldon; great grandchildren, Cameron, Brady, Kayleigh, and Luke; brother, Robert Froehlich; many nieces, nephews, other family and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Deborah (Jay) O'Brien; sisters, Ruth and Gladys (Robert) Barta; brothers, Eugene, Russell, and Brice; sister-in-law, Rochelle Froehlich.

The family would like to thank River Pines Long Term Care, the Grace Foundation, Oakwood Villa, Oakwood Health Services and Saint Croix Hospice for the care and kindness they extended to Joyce, Mac, and her family through the years.