Mac (Eli M.) Boldon

Died: Tuesday, July 28th, 2026

Memorial Service: 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 22, 2026, at First Presbyterian Church (2112 Rudolph Road, Eau Claire) with Pastor Ed Williams officiating

Visitation: from 10:00 a.m. until time of service

Interment: Rest Haven Cemetery, Town of Washington, Wisconsin 

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in memory of Mac to either First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire www.fpcec.org or Grace Lutheran Communities www.graceluthfound.com . 

Mac (Eli Malcolm) Boldon, 95, of Eau Claire, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at Prairie Point Assisted Living in Altoona, Wisconsin.  

Mac was born July 6, 1931, to the late Avon E. "Hickory" and Florence A. (Geary) Boldon in Island Lake, Wisconsin. He attended Island Lake grade school through 8th grade. On October 14, 1950, Mac married Joyce Betty Froehlich at the First Presbyterian Church in Cornell, Wisconsin. They were married for 73 years and were blessed with four children, eight grandchildren, and five great grandchildren.

As a young child, Mac learned to garden from his mom and learned to hunt and fish from his dad. He provided for his birth family while his dad went to Alaska to work on the Alcan Highway. At the age of ten, Mac worked and lived at the Island Lake store. He pumped gas, painted boats, and put up ice in the winter. When he could, he would hunt and fish for food and guide fishermen on the Chain of Lakes to earn extra money. It was while he was guiding in 1948 that he met the love of his life, his future wife, Joyce, at the Ferndale Resort on Chain Lake. Determined to get married and be a good provider, Mac looked for work and found a job in Hokka, Minnesota making Barrel Staves. While working there he suffered an accident and had to quit his job. Undeterred, Mac married Joyce and found a job as a bell hop at the Hotel Eau Claire where he worked for four years.  

Through providing good service to patrons, he was offered a job at Peter's Meats as a salesman. From that time on Mac was a salesman of food and restaurant supplies. As companies changed hands, Mac moved with them. He worked for Peter's Meats, Aslesen's, Indianhead, and Reinhardt Foods. He loved selling and enjoyed meeting new people. He was thankful he could be a good provider for his family. It was what he valued most.

Mac loved his family and friends. His goal was to raise his children to be productive adults with a strong faith. He kept his love of hunting, fishing, and playing cribbage throughout his life and passed those passions onto his children and grandchildren. He was an excellent cribbage player and got the rare 29 point hand dealt to him while playing 4 handed cribbage at a sales meeting.

He was an Elder and Deacon at First Presbyterian Church in Eau Claire. Mac was a Mason for over 70 years attaining the 32nd Degree. Mac was also athletic and enjoyed participating in team sports. He pitched several years on the First Presbyterian Church softball team, played dart ball at church and went to the state tournament. Upon retirement, he continued playing golf, took up an old passion of trapping muskrats with his brother-in-law, Bob Froehlich, and traveled with his wife, Joyce.

In 1965, Mac and Joyce bought a cabin on McCann Lake. There the family and their friends enjoyed campfires, fishing, boating, waterskiing, swimming, card and board games all while Joyce made sure everyone had three square meals a day. It was some of the happiest times of his life.  

Mac, Joyce and Deborah traveled to Switzerland where he and Joyce were able to see the beauty of the Alps. Mac and Joyce also went to Alaska to see where his dad had worked on the Alcan Highway and to witness for themselves the beauty of the Klondikes. Mac and Joyce also traveled to Brussels, Belgium to visit their son Peter and his wife. Finally, Mac and Joyce went to Cancun with Sue and Mike's family to experience the Mexican culture and see Chichen Itza.

Mac is survived by his children, Susan (Michael) Meska, Peter (Marcia Bowman) Boldon, and John (Melissa) Boldon; grandchildren, Scott (Sari) Meska, Leigh Meska, Jamie O'Brien, Timothy (Lily) O'Brien, Mackenzie (Moriah) Boldon, Marlena Boldon, Nicolas Boldon, and Gabriel Boldon; great grandchildren, Cameron, Brady, Kayleigh, Luke, and Henry; many nieces, nephews, other family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Joyce in 2024; daughter, Deborah (Jay) O'Brien; and sisters, Verna Delle Silvernail, Leah Hattie Getchel, Lucille Irene Silvernail, Constance Patricia Kramer, Audrey Kathleen Kelly, Mary Louise Eastenson, and Nancy Lee Scarcelli.

The family would like to thank Prairie Point Assisted Living administration and nursing as well as Heartland Hospice for the care and kindness they extended to Mac and his family.