Patricia Mary Bollinger

Patricia Mary Bollinger, a longtime Santa Rosan and the wife of former Press Democrat classified advertising manager Lee Bollinger, died Tuesday at a local hospital from complications related to pneumonia. She was 84.

A native of Petaluma, Patricia Bollinger last summer celebrated 66 years of marriage to Lee Bollinger, who as a boy had lived down the street from her in Santa Rosa. Both attended Santa Rosa Junior High and Santa Rosa High School.

The couple married at age 18 and went on to rear six children, both in Santa Rosa and in northeastern Oregon. They lived in Oregon for 10 years when they held part ownership in a newspaper, the Baker Democrat-Herald.

"She was an especially caring and loving mother," Lee Bollinger recalled. When it came to their children, "she could handle anything."

A son, Brad Bollinger, the associate publisher and editor-in-chief of the North Bay Business Journal, recalled how the family often gathered at the home of his maternal grandparents in Santa Rosa. Later his mother hosted similar gatherings for her own children and grandchildren.

"That's really what her life has been all about, her family," Brad Bollinger said.

Patricia Bollinger supported her husband during more than three decades in The Press Democrat's circulation and classified ad departments, interrupted by stints at the Hayward Daily Review and the Baker Democrat-Herald.

The couple in 1957 became part owners of the the Oregon paper, along with then-Press Democrat Publisher Ruth Woolsey Finley; Assistant Publisher Everett Person and his wife, Ruth Finley Person; and General Manager Dan Bowerman and his wife Ruby Bowerman.

For 10 years, Lee Bollinger served there as editor and publisher. He recalled that his wife helped prepare the TV listing logs and on election nights would come to the paper to help in the tallying of results for local and national races.

The couple moved back from Baker to Santa Rosa in 1967, when Lee Bollinger returned to The Press Democrat as classified advertising manager. He retired from the paper in 1992.

Along with her husband and son, Patricia Bollinger is survived by two more sons, Lee C. Bollinger of New York City, who is president of Columbia University, and Jayme Bollinger of Santa Rosa, a district manager in The Press Democrat's circulation department; a daughter, Tami Bollinger Edwards of Santa Rosa, who works in the paper's retail advertising department; two sisters, Dorothy Narducci and Joan Cameron, both of Santa Rosa; six grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.

Visitation will be from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. Friday at Daniels Chapel of the Rose, 1225 Sonoma Ave. A funeral liturgy will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Calvary Catholic Cemetery.

-- Robert Digitale