Remembering Ed Bolcar, Jr.

By Kevin Hass with Terry Fitzpatrick, Randy Haffling, Dean Molitoris, Mike O’Hare, Joe Ramos, Rod Strohl, Bob Volk, Buck Tarboro

Eddie was hired in June of 1984 and spent the next three decades honing his skills as a craftsman. Many a night, after his eight-hour workday, he would put those skills to use working on large projects for the University, including these:

• In Colonial Hall, Ed designed, fabricated and installed the trim molding, cabinets, bookshelves and Formica countertops. For those who have offices in Colonial, look around, Ed more than likely built your bookshelf and countertop.
• At Steel Field, Ed designed and fabricated the steeple chase cover, although now it is no longer in use.
• At Reeves Library, Ed was part of the team that installed the computer carrels, desk units, countertops and cabinets. Ed also designed and fabricated the cherry display cases located on the ground floor; the cases have a brass placard with Ed’s name engraved on them.
• At Johnston Hall, during the early 1990’s renovation, Ed played a part in removal of cinder block walls to make room for the nine locker rooms currently in use.

Ed’s true gift was his ability to design projects as requested and illustrate what they would look like (a glimpse of his future artistic side). He built bookcase units--still used to this day--in Comenius, Zinzendorf, and Monocacy Halls. He repaired many of the antique furniture found on campus, from the Deacon’s benches to chairs, to just about anything you can think of. Ed could fix it all!

He loved the history of the University’s buildings. His favorite was Comenius Hall, which has seen many changes in use over the years and suffered a fire on Halloween night in the early 1900’s. Ed treasured that the building is still in use after all these years, blackened stones and all. He was so fond of the building it became his favorite to paint. The first rendition is located right here at FMPC, in the General Services Manager’s office.

Ed worked many Saturday graduations over the years, but his favorite by far was the year his daughter Alex graduated.

The Moravian University Community was like a family to Ed. After all, his mother, Irene, was a custodian at Bahnson. His father, Ed Sr., was a custodian for the Art department and his Uncle Tom was a custodian in Collier Hall of Science. Ed’s impact on this campus cannot fully be known, but trust me, he had his hand in everything. Ed you will be truly missed.