Paulette Bolton
Paulette Ruth (Whalen) Bolton, 78, of Western Springs, IL, passed away peacefully on August 25th, 2023. She was the beloved wife of the late William Curtis Bolton; mother of Noelle (Whalen) Aversano, Erin (Whalen) Flesch, Patrick Bolton, and Sean Bolton; grandmother of Cooper Bolton, Jenny and Ben Mikolajczak, and Isaiah Flesch; and sister-in-law of Peter Bolton and the late Barbara Gimbel.
Paulette was born on May 13th, 1945 in Manhattan, Kansas to Paul and Ada (Ferguson) Whalen. She was raised in Phoenix, AZ and moved to Chicago in her 20’s. In Chicago, she started her 40+ year teaching career at the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Holy Name Cathedral. In 1982, the family moved to La Grange IL, and she continued teaching at St. John of the Cross in Western Springs. She then moved over to St. Cletus Parish as their Liturgical Director until her retirement in 2022. She met her late husband Bill, singing in the St. Cletus Choir, where after five months, they were married for almost 35 years. During those 35 years, Paulette enjoyed a loving bond with Bill’s children, Rob (Anita) Bolton and Laura (Bolton) Mikolajczak (s. Dave).
Paulette loved God, being Irish, and baseball above all else. A die-hard Cubs Fan, she also rarely missed a chance to see her sons play at games. She loved music and singing, and sang at hundreds of weddings over the years. Her beautiful voice moved many to tears every Sunday at Mass, especially when she would sing “O Holy Night” and “Ave Maria”.
Paulette was kind, compassionate, and loving towards everyone. She loved her friends, students, colleagues, and her family, and she will be dearly missed.
Visitation will be from 3 to 9pm on Thursday, August 31st at Hallowell & James Funeral Home, 1025 W. 55th St., Countryside. Funeral Prayers 9:15am from the funeral home to St. Cletus Church, La Grange for a 10am Funeral Mass on Friday, September 1st. Family and friends are to meet at the Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery office for a 12:30pm burial.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations given to St. Cletus Church or the Maryknoll Missionaries are appreciated. Funeral Info: 708-352-6500
Paulette will be missed deeply.
She was the one I would look for at family gatherings to talk with.
Her children are her greatest blessings.
Love to all the family.
Debbie Whalen
An absolutely beautiful woman with a phenomenal spirit. Nothing ever seemed to anger Paulette she always had a listening ear and a beautiful, spiritual manner about her. She was loved by all of us, her passing means that she will be anointed as another angel in God‘s kingdom. She certainly served that role while here on earth. She will be missed by all who really loved her. A gentle soul has left us.
My sweet friend will be missed by all who knew her.
Another wonderful woman has left this world. She was such a support to me and mine when I taught at SJC. She was truly a woman of faith. She will be missed!
I’m heartbroken for you in your loss of Paulette. What beautiful memories of time together on Memorial Day weekends!
We will be praying for you all from Arizona.
With love,
Amy (Hardi) Torgersen
I am so thankful and grateful my three sons had Paulette as a teacher at SJC. She expected the best from every student and was caring and compassionate as well. The Yena Family remembers her fondly now and for years to come
And we hope she is sharing some laughs with her
teaching buddy Dave Dolar. Blessings to your family and wishing you beautiful memories
I chose my wedding day in 2001 around Paulette’s schedule so she could sing Ave Maria. I had grown up listening to her beautiful voice at mass (1990’s). My mom and I came up to the Mary statue to pray together during the wedding ceremony–it was so moving and her voice was amazing! I agree there was not a dry eye in the church after that song. Many years later I worked with her at St Cletus (2021) and she helped our 40 eighth graders pull off a memorable Living Rosary with different color shirts to represent mysteries. She was so organized – it was perfect and I was honored to work with her! She will be so very missed!
I am grateful to have worked with Paulette as a Eucharist minister for many years.
A beautiful spirit always. May she Rest in peace. You will be missed.
I just found out about Paulette. She helped me became a Eucharistic Minister when I was in high school back in 2011-2012. I knew her and Bill when I was a parish member at St. Cletus. To the family of Paulette, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
I was out of town when Paulette passed away & so sorry I missed her services. I knew her for years as I ushered at St. Cletus for 30 years, and still do. She will be missed ! God bless her !
Joyce Fisher