YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) – Joan Mayrene (Pavlov) Bolkovac passed away Monday, September 26 in Delaware, Ohio.
She was born October 16, 1934 to John and Mary (Yurko) Pavlov in Struthers, Ohio.
Joan was the beloved wife of Jack (James P.) Bolkovac for 61 years and mother to Mary Beth (Jim) Holycross of Powell, Ohio, Jim (Stefanie) Bolkovac of Lewis Center, Ohio and Julie Ann (John) Carney of Powell, Ohio. She was grandmother to Emma and Jack E. Bolkovac, Andrew and Nathan Holycross and Alyson (Billy) Smith and great-grandmother to Caiden and Cameron Smith.
She was very proud of her roots and family heritage and always referred to herself as a “Depression Baby.” She was proud of her family and her parents who sacrificed to encourage her and her siblings, John, Shirley and Donald, to do well and be successful.
Joan was a 1952 graduate of Struthers High School. She was a 1956 graduate of Youngstown University, where she was a member of the Tri-Sigma sorority and a reporter with The Jambar. She later continued her education with graduate level work at both Youngstown and The Ohio State University.
In 1956, she began her teaching career at Youngstown Woodrow Wilson High School in the English department.
On September 2, 1961, she married Jack, a fellow teacher at Woodrow Wilson. The city schools at that time had a policy that husband-and-wife were not allowed to teach at the same school, so Joan moved to the Boardman School system, where she taught English until the birth of their first child in 1968. At that point, she chose to take a hiatus from her career she loved to raise their three children. Joan was able to return to teaching in the Springfield Local School District, where she taught until she retired in 1997. She truly loved her profession and always proudly told everyone she met “I’m a teacher.”
She and Jack, with their three children, took advantage of their summers off from school by travelling and visiting most of our 50 states, from Alaska to Hawaii and almost everywhere in between.
In 2010, they moved to Delaware, Ohio to be closer to their children and grandchildren and to follow their grandchildren’s academic and athletic activities as closely as they did their children’s. “Grandma and Grandpa B” were well-known in those circles.
Joan will be missed not only by her immediate family but also by her brother and sister, brothers- and sisters-in-law, many nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and nephews, all of whom she had close relationships with. Family and tradition were very important to Joan and she always kept those bonds tight.
Calling hours will be held of Friday, October 7, 2022, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. at Rutherford Funeral Home, 450 West Olentangy Street, Powell, OH 43065.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 8, 2022 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 82 East William Street, Delaware, OH 43015. The Funeral Mass will be live streamed.