Beloved husband of Mary; father of Niko, Nikoletta, Mark, and Alexa; grandfather of Ben, Sundie, Kalen, Beth Mary, and Theodore. Ted Bolas passed away at the age of 77. He led a rich life and treated all those around him as family.

Ted and his older siblings Dianne and George were born and raised in Chicago, Illinois by his cherished mother Nickoletta and father Nicholas. At the age of eight, Ted started out as a shoeshine boy on the streets of Chicago. Later, he sold newspapers and drove streetcars, taxis, trucks, and buses down those same streets. He served aboard the Destroyer Escort SS Otterstetter in World War II. Ted married his dear Mary in 1955 -- they would have been married 50 years this August. They moved to Los Angeles, settling on their beloved Micheltorena Street from 1958 to the present, where their neighbors have always been their extended family.

Ted earned his contractor’s license and ran his own businesses, first Bolas Painting and then Doric Painting. From 1974 to 2000, he and Mary ran the Century Paints store on Berendo Street. He served as President of the Southern California Decorating Products Association and was honored with the Siegal Memorial Award. Of course, these businesses were really just a front for Ted’s real goal: Give work to anyone who needed a break. He was a buddy to all, surrogate papa to many, and everyone knew that if they needed it, he would be their ace in the hole.

Visitation will be Tuesday, June 14, from 5-7 p.m., followed by a prayer service at 7:00 p.m., at the Hollywood Forever mortuary. Funeral services will be held Wednesday, June 15 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral, followed by interment at Hollywood Forever.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ted Bolas Memorial Fund at Trinity Episcopal Church, 650 N. Berendo St., L.A., CA 90004.

To know him is to love him.

If you would like to share a memory of Ted, please send it to bolas@well.com, thank you.