With Oscar C. Boldt on the occasion of dedicating a giant crane at the Boldt construction yard, 2012.
It seems everyone has an O.C. Boldt story and I’m no exception. Years ago when I started working with The Boldt Company I was prepping O.C., Tom Boldt, and Bob DeKoch for a cover story for Marketplace Magazine. I had only been working with the firm for about a year and really didn’t know the leadership well.
I did what any reporter would do and I asked O.C. “what is the secret to your success?”
He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest and very seriously answered: “Everybody else is a bunch of crooks.”
Without missing a beat I said: “Well that may be true, but I would counsel you to not say that to a reporter.”
He answered with a visible twinkle in his blue eyes: “I’m just kidding you. I was testing you to see how you would respond.”
That was about 15 years ago and in the years of working with his wonderful company, I was blessed to learn from him, laugh with him, and listen to the rich trove of stories he had. Stories about how the Fox Cities were built. Stories about buildings on the Lawrence University campus. Stories about how they made it through the Depression when there was no money. And most importantly, stories about where to get the best ice cream.
When I bumped into him in the hallways of the office, he would look at me with intensity and say, “I know if you’re here, you’re costing me money. So what are you doing today to get results?” And I would tell him about a story we were working on, about a case study we were writing, or about a recent story that was published in one of our markets. And he would end our chat with “but are you having any fun?”
And I thought yes, yes I am because I bumped into you today.
As we got to know each other better he asked me where I was from, what my parents did for livings, and he learned that I was part Irish. He was quick to say “My mother always warned me about Irish Catholic girls and I can see in your case she was right.” He never let me forget that.
He and his wife Pat have had a profound impact on me—showing me what true stewardship and community involvement can do for a region. As a former board member of a local arts group, their patronage has been a gift of sustainability to our choir. Seeing them in the audience of a concert meant they not only supported us because it was the right thing to do, but it was something they truly enjoyed.
Over his lifetime, he built far more than buildings–he built community wherever he saw a need. Some of you may not realize this, but there’s a pair of handprints in the concrete just to the left of the main entrance to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center. When the company was building the PAC, he would lean against the wall just to, as he said, “feel the building.” Years later, when going on a tour of the many buildings Boldt built, a reporter looked at the hand prints, laughed, and said “look at that, somebody put their hands in the wet concrete,” and I told him those hands were very important.
Thank you Oscar for leaving your imprint on so many souls.
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