Paul John Boler III

Mar 22, 1930 - Jun 29, 2020

Paul Boler passed away peacefully on June 29, in Roseville, CA. Born in Seattle, Paul grew up in Chehalis, WA. He arrived in San Francisco after high school and worked his way through college at SF State where he studied English literature; additionally, he earned an MA in creative writing there. He was drafted into the army during the Korean War and honorably discharged. Paul held many jobs and had many interests, including woodworking, drawing, and politics. His biggest passions were reading great literature, mysteries, and poetry; and writing his own fiction, poetry, and essays. He published short stories in magazines, including The Saturday Evening Post. In 1967, he launched a career as a CCSF ESL instructor. He mainly taught in Chinatown, where he was a popular educator among students, known for writing his own original lessons and speaking a bit of decent Cantonese. After retiring in 1993, Paul continued to connect with his community through substitute teaching and walks around Chinatown and his Polk Street neighborhood. In 1999, he moved to a house in Sacramento with a garden and space to write in South Land Park near his oldest daughter, Katherine Boler, and her 2 daughters. He realized a life-long dream of publishing a novel when he and his second daughter, Sarah Jenkins, formed a publishing company, Sequoia Editions. They published the first in his middle-grade novel series, The Adventures of Cardboard Man (2014). Paul was married twice, first to Patricia Hassett and later to Lucy Yang. He had 3 daughters (Katherine, Sarah, and Olivia Boler), 4 stepchildren (Marlene, Elena, Denise, and James), 2 nieces (Megan and Molly), 14 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren. Paul was well loved by his family and will be greatly missed. As his beloved Shakespeare wrote, “Here is my journey’s end.” In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in Paul’s honor to St. Anthony Foundation, Meals on Wheels, or your local food bank.