Dick Bolger, music teacher, at 96

Joseph Richard “Dick” Bolger, formerly of Merrick, who taught music to generations of students in Bellmore, Great Neck, Delaware and Pennsylvania, died peacefully on Jan. 30 at home in Palatine, Ill. He was 96.

A skilled organist and pianist, Bolger resided in Merrick from the 1950s until 2010, when he moved to Illinois. He retired as an elementary school music teacher in 1979, after 18 years in the Great Neck School District. He taught vocal music from 1954-61 at Bellmore’s Jerusalem Avenue Junior High School. Before then, he was an elementary school music teacher for five years in Laurel, Del.

Born on the Fourth of July, 1918, in Martinsburg, Pa., to Anna (née Bridenbaugh) and William, Bolger began his music studies early and served as the organist for his family’s church from ages 16 to 25. After graduating from Martinsburg High School, he taught piano to 40 private students in and around Altoona, Pa. During World War II, Bolger served in the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Waycross, Ga.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in music education, with a specialty in piano, in 1949 from Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pa., and a master’s degree in music education, with a specialty in organ performance, in 1953 from Teachers College, Columbia University. Twenty years later, he also earned a certificate from the Orff-Institute at the University Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

Bolger lost his eyesight in 1979. Thereafter a dog from Smithtown’s Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind accompanied him. He often spoke with elementary schoolchildren about blindness and interacting with blind people and their service dogs, and he played piano accompaniment for United Cerebral Palsy Association of Nassau County music therapy classes. Bolger was the organist and choir director at Merrick’s St. John’s Lutheran Church for 16 years.

In 2010, he moved to Palatine, Ill., where he enjoyed attending the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and St. Paul United Church of Christ, visiting family, playing piano and baking cookies.

Bolger was predeceased by his wife, Kathleen, and brother, William. He is survived by his children, Sally (Eugene) Mason of Islip and Kathleen Bolger of Palatine, Ill; sister, Virginia Smith of Richfield, Ohio; and grandchildren, Travis and Stacie Mason of Islip.

A funeral service took place Monday, Feb. 2, at St. Paul United Church of Christ in Barrington, Ill. Burial was on Feb. 5 at Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading, Pa.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc., 371 East Jericho Turnpike, Smithtown, N.Y. 11787-2976 or to St. John’s Lutheran Church, 1 Van Roo Ave., Merrick, N.Y. 11566.

Condolences for the family can be left at www.davenportfamily.com or by calling (847) 381-3411 for more information.