Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory

Gloria M. Bolger, a long-time resident of Annapolis, died on the afternoon of July 25 at her home. She was 92 years old. Gloria was born in New York and primarily raised in Tenafly, N.J. She graduated from Endicott Junior College in Beverly, MA, in 1946, whereupon she went to work as a buyer at Macy’s Herald Square in Manhattan. 

In 1948, she married Philip Bolger, a U.S. naval officer, with whom she remained until his death in 2013. As a military wife and mother, she relocated with her family to numerous locations across the country, including Southern Maryland; Pensacola, FL; Alameda, CA; and Narragansett, RI. Upon her husband’s retirement from active duty, they settled in Kensington, MD, where she continued to raise five children and served as a volunteer for several charitable organizations including the Christ Child Society in Washington, DC. 

Gloria was a highly intelligent woman and a formidable opponent at the bridge table. She was a talented piano player who composed music and loved to sing, mostly Broadway show tunes and standards. She was voted the best-dressed girl in her high school class and retained an impeccable taste in fashion and a subtle sense of design throughout her life. Her friends and family could always count on Gloria to keep a cool head under the most trying of circumstances. She conveyed a quiet fortitude and patient dignity in every difficult situation she faced throughout her life.

Gloria is survived by her five children, P. Michael (Catherine) Bolger, Mary (Dale) Hart Johnson, Richard (Sue) Bolger, James (Mary) Bolger, and Raymond Bolger; 13 grandchildren; and a great-granddaughter.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at St. Mary's Catholic Church, 109 Duke of Gloucester St., Annapolis, MD on Wednesday, August 1, at 10:30 a.m.  Interment immediately following funeral service at St. Mary's Queen of Peace Cemetery, Mechanicsville, MD.

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Gloria M. Bolger

Gloria M. Bolger

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