Mary Jane Bolan, of Spring Lake, N.J., died on December 2, 2017, at home, surrounded by family. Mickey, as she was known, was born in Orange, N.J. and graduated from St. Vincent’s Academy and St. Elizabeth’s College. As a grandmother she returned to school and received her RN, serving as a private duty nurse in her later years.
She fiercely loved Whitey, her husband of 56 years, and together they raised their family of six in Sea Girt and Allenhurst. They spent their retirement years in Wilmington, N.C. and Spring Lake. Mickey is survived by her children, Betty Ann and her husband Rick Gilman, Sally and her husband Bob Selden, Terry and his wife Eileen, Ginger and her husband Bob Koar, Mary Jo Carlson, and Peter and his wife Blaise. Also surviving are her 20 grandchildren, Brendan and Kelly Gilman, Robert, Chris, John and Thomas Selden, Mary, Clare and Shannon Bolan, Robert, Patrick, Katie, Peter, Terrance and Timothy Koar, Jason Brandt, and Bridget, Sarah, Whitey and Jeannie Bolan, and her 4 great-grandchildren, Finnegan Selden, Patrick Koar, and Jack and Liam Davies.
Mickey’s was a life well and fully lived in utter dedication to her family and friends. Daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, nurse, seamstress, counselor, artist, and a staunch friend to a special few. She also had occasional aspirations to NASCAR driving, particularly if she was behind schedule. She was innately kind and always ready to share her strength with others when they needed some. She had little time for phonies and was able and willing to stickpin an overblown ego with a mere look. Her faith let her manage the day-to-day as well as the celebrations and the catastrophes with a contagious confidence and quiet determination. Her laughter was the deep kind; she saw the true irony. She loved the ocean. She was beautiful.
Visitation will take place at O’Brien Funeral Home, 2028 Hwy. 35, Wall, on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, from 4-8 P.M. The funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Michael’s Church, Ocean Avenue, Long Branch, on Wednesday, December 6, 2017, at 10:30 A.M., followed by burial at St. Anne’s Cemetery, Wall. Mickey supported numerous charities, and in her memory, you are welcome to make a generous donation to the charity of your choice, in lieu of flowers.