In memory of Sharon Bolle

This picture was taken of Dick and Sharon Bolle in March 2006 when the four of us took a trip to see wild burros near Earp, CA. After photographing the wild animals and visiting another campground with interesting Arizona scenes in a large mural, we went to the Paradise Café for fish and chips. Sharon and I also had fun dressing up in big hats at the Spring tea held in the clubhouse.

Perhaps the best way to tell their story is to quote from my book, RV Chuckles and Chuckholes – the Confessions of Happy Campers.

“We met Dick and Sharon Bolle at an RV park in the desert of California and were surprised to see them a month later near San Bernardino at a steak dinner in the clubhouse.

Dick and Sharon were born and raised in Iowa. Since I have lived in Iowa longer than anywhere, we immediately found that we knew the same places and had common interests.

For the last thirty some years, they have lived in Texas. They travel about half of the year in their RV and live on a lake the rest of the time. Their interests are canoeing, riding a tandem bike, exploring National Forests and RV manufacturers, and eating in small restaurants where you don’t recognize the name.

They mentioned that they were planning to visit an RV factory on Monday. Were we nterested? We contacted the manufacturer and discovered that they had a 10 a.m. Class A tour and a 3 p.m. Class C tour. We offered to drive and decided to eat lunch at a little restaurant without a national franchise.

We had a good time on Monday. We even did a little shopping after the tours. I was exhausted. Dick and Sharon never complained. They were unusually courteous. Dick chivalrously opened the car door for me.

Why is this couple so special? We meet RV people all the time who are like them. Maybe they don’t ride tandem bikes or open car doors but most RVers are pleasant people whom we have met again and again.

But Dick wasn’t always like this. He has had a change of heart.

I don’t mean that he was a bad guy who became a good guy. Dick was a very sick man who has had a heart transplant.

In 1980, Dr. Cooley gave him a new heart valve at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston, Texas. It improved his condition, but gradually he became more and more ill until he was spending almost as much time in the hospital as out of it.

Dick and Sharon moved to Houston in 1987 to an apartment to await the news of an available heart. They were at the zoo when the pager went off. Sharon pushed Dick in the wheel chair to the phone to get the news. A heart was available. When the doctors and nurses heard where they were, Dick was called “the man from the zoo”. While prepping Dick for surgery, the doctors learned that the heart was not suitable for Dick. Emotionally, he must have felt like a woman who is 9 months pregnant who goes to the hospital and is sent home again. You know that you will get this wonderful gift but not today.

He was called again on June 22, 1987 to receive the heart of a 19-year-old man. Emotionally, the time of surgery is more difficult for the close family members than for the patient. He is given pain meds and meds to make him unconscious while the family members can only wait and pray.

Sharon supported Dick all the way. She stayed with him and asked questions and checked everything done for him. Their marriage is like riding a tandem bike – supporting and balancing each other.

Dick worked as a person who developed and created prototypes for heating and air conditioning systems. His work was both mental and physical. He was able to return to work in January of 1988. He has now retired. Dick goes to St. Luke’s Hospital for a yearly check-up.

Dick appreciates the gift of life. He especially appreciates that he is physically able to do as much as any 69 year-old man with a thirty-something heart.”

Dick called me this morning to tell me that Sharon did not survive an
automobile accident on July 1,2006. She was 64 years old.