Remembering family and friends

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SARATOGA SPRINGS - Minnie Clark Bolster, 97, who possessed an indomitable spirit and an encyclopedic knowledge of all things Saratoga, died Saturday (Dec. 16, 2017) at Saratoga Hospital, with her devoted nieces at her side. Born Aug. 19, 1920 in Saratoga Springs, she was the daughter of Winifred Spellman from Boyle, County Roscommon, Ireland and Clement A. Clark of Saratoga Springs. She was fiercely proud of her heritage and delighted to learn of native American ancestry in her family after a friend gave her a gift membership in Ancestry.Com. A member of the Saratoga Springs High School Class of 1938, she helped organize and hold class reunions every five years since 1953, and kept a complete record of the class. Following her graduation from high school, she worked as a long-distance telephone operator in the summers of her high school years and upon graduation, enrolled in the Eastman Business School in Saratoga Springs. She obtained a job at the Seethru Container Factory and continued her schooling at night. She graduated from the Eastman school in 1939, the same year she became a legal secretary at Leary & Fullerton in Saratoga Springs. She was assigned to Michael E. Sweeney. In 1959, Mr. Sweeney was elected Justice of the Supreme Court of New York State, and she remained his secretary and also served him after he was named to the Appellate Division. They both retired in 1983. She married Frederick L. Bolster on Oct. 10, 1970 at St. Peter’s Church in Saratoga Springs. He presented her with an engagement ring hidden in the bottom of a whiskey sour glass. Together they enjoyed Saturday evenings on the town, dining and dancing. Special favorite places to frequent were the Wishing Well and the Ashgrove Inn, where they held their wedding reception. Fred often accompanied Minnie on her antiquing adventures. She was in the antique business for many decades, including operation of a small shop at the Mansion in Rock City Falls. After holding every office in the Historical Society of Saratoga Springs, except vice president, she became president and remained for 12 years. In addition, she managed the society’s annual antique show held every August for 22 years. Minnie amassed one of the largest collections of Saratoga memorabilia and took great pleasure in researching its contents, adding to it and sharing it with others. In 2005, she published the genealogy of the Parker-Clark family spanning the years 1773 to 2005. That began a new career as an author and publisher. In 2007, she published a book entitled “A Saratoga Original: Clarence A. Knapp and Those He Met Along the Way.” In 2010, she wrote and published “Saratoga: The Way We Were and What They Said About Us.” That was followed in 2012 by “Collecting Saratoga - The Adventures of Minnie Clark Bolster.” She served as a primary resource for “Saratoga, A Centennial History” and in 2017, she published “Saratoga Springs: Elegant and Fashionable as Seen Through the Eyes of Artists, and the Words of Writers, 1787-1847.” She had a huge coterie of friends and admirers of all ages and treated a special group of them to a monthly lunch at the Ripe Tomato in Malta. She was able to extract from life and from her friends great enjoyment and pleasure. Survivors her brother Clement E. Clark and his wife, Bernadine, of Saratoga Springs; nephew James Clark and his wife Donna of Sudbury, Mass.; niece Rosemary Gold and her husband Peter of Greenfield Center; Jennifer Clark of Saratoga Springs; niece Mary Jane Clark of Ireland; Carole Brown of Saratoga Springs; niece Suzanne Koval, and her husband, Michael, of Ballston Spa; niece Darci Clark of Ballston Spa; great nieces and nephews, Jessica Bazow, Keelin Clark, Rebecca Gold, Lauren MacDonald, Erin Diehl, Savannah MacDonald, Tristin MacDonald, Dylan and Preston Bezow. In addition to her parents, she is predeceased by her husband, Frederick L. Bolster, who died May 28, 1976 and one brother, Richard A. Clark, who died Feb. 4, 1978. Relatives and friends may call from 3 to 7pm Tuesday (Dec. 19) at the William J. Burke & Sons/ Bussing and Cunniff Funeral Homes, 628 North Broadway (518-584-5373). A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10am Wednesday in the historic Church of St. Peter, 241 Broadway and burial will follow in the family plot in Greenridge Cemetery, Lincoln Ave. Memorials may be made in her name to the Saratoga Springs History Museum, P.O. Box 216, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. Online remembrances may be made at burkefuneralhome.com.