Mary Bolas (née Nickolaou), age 84. Born in Chicago IL on Jan 2, 1933. Married Aug 21, 1955 in Chicago IL to Theodore N. Bolas; they moved to Los Angeles on their honeymoon, and never looked back. Ted died in 2005, but appeared to her in a dream 2 weeks ago and said “Mary, hurry up!” She complied, and passed peacefully in Los Angeles, CA on Jun 3, 2017.
She was adored by her children: Niko (Mika) Bolas, Nikoletta (Nick) Yukich, Mark (Nanci) Bolas, and Alexa Bolas, and her grandchildren: Ben (Robin), Sundie, and Kalen Yukich, and Beth and Theodore Bolas. She loved her nieces and nephews: Carla Curio, Laura Curio Hoodenpyle, and James Curio, and Irene Tomaras Supica and Charles Tomaras. She was predeceased by her parents, Kyriakos "Charlie" and Alexandra Argetakis Nickolaou, sister, Sophronia Nickolaou Tomaras, and her beloved in-laws: Nicholas and Nickoletta Bolas, George Bolas, and Dianne Herbert.
Mary attended Koraes Elementary and Hirsch High School in Chicago IL, and attended the University of Chicago and The Actor’s Company. She performed with the USO, singing and miming her hilarious rendition of “Serenade to a Jerk.” As a young woman, she moved to the Hollywood Studio Club in Los Angeles, to focus on her study of classical guitar. She then married and had four children. She taught guitar enrichment classes at Micheltorena St. Elementary, was a teacher’s aide in ESL classes at Thomas Starr King Jr. High, and studied Spanish and Accounting at LA City College. Mary and Ted ran Century Paints on Berendo St. (1974-2000) — one of the last mom-and-pop paint stores in Los Angeles. Mary also served as loyal bookkeeper for Trinity Church through 2011.
She was so much fun as a mother: she would yell “Hold on kids!” and accelerate down the “rolley coaster hill” (Marathon St.); she would “lose control” of the steering wheel and the car would force her to drive us to Foster’s Freeze on Sunset for ice cream; she was a gifted mimic and had different voices for every character in the books she would read aloud, Charlie and the Chocolate Factor was a favorite. She had a gift for making dolls and puppets talk to us, and even made “Mr. Toilet” talk to us when we feared it as very young children. She told jokes, she clowned around, she was a wonderful cook. She knitted us sweaters and made us quilts with little personalized images quilted into them.
Mary was always ahead of her time and said her headstone should read: “You wanna do WHAT?!” She was a Greek folk singer before folk music was popular; she studied classical guitar when it was completely unknown; she got into quilting when it was so rare that she had to track down a 90-year-old woman to teach her how to do it.
Music was her lifelong passion, and the classical guitar was her first love, triggered by a chance hearing of Romance de Amor that brought her to her knees. She was a wonderful performer and the parties Ted & Mary gave remain legendary, with much singing, Greek dancing, and beautiful food, all night long. In mid-life, when a hand problem kept her from fulfilling her guitar dreams, she turned to the Celtic harp, and sang in the choir at Trinity Episcopal Church on Berendo St. Her Trinity family brought her fulfillment and joy for many years; she wistfully referred to the early years there as “Camelot.”
She made beautiful quilts as gifts for others, and loved knitting darling baby hats and blankets for donation to Stitches from the Heart. She was a huge fan of the LA Guitar Quartet from their earliest days. She always had the KUSC classical station playing on the radio in her pantry, and she loved Chet Atkins and often said, “If you ever play Chet Atkins and my foot doesn’t tap, you’ll know it’s time to pull the plug.” She was never bored, she was very independent, and she had an amazing disposition
— she genuinely remembered only the good things. Mary also had talents that went unexpressed in this life; few knew that she could draw and sculpt.
Mary was blessed with the sweetest, most loyal friends and family, many of whom have passed and who are no doubt partying with her at this very moment. We sure will miss her until we are together again.
