Dr. John L. Boland Jr.

John L. Boland was born July 21, 1916, in Louisville, Kentucky, the oldest of six children to John and Margaret O’brien Boland. He worked his way through the University of Louisville and earned a BS degree in Chemistry in 1938.

Just before World War II began, he was working with I.B.M. accounting machines at the Kentucky State Board of Health. Because of this experience he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and sent to a large army depot near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where a huge inventory of army supplies for World War II was being stored and readied for shipment overseas. After five years of active duty and serving many tours in the summer, he retired as a Lt. Colonel.

LT. Boland married his secretary, Lillian Canon a lovely lady from El Reno, Oklahoma on December 30, 1942. They celebrated their 69th anniversary on December 30, 2011.

John attended the University of Michigan with the help of the G.I. Bill. While at Michigan he worked as a house painter and watch repairman. In 1951, John was awarded his PhD degree in Speech and Language behavior.

John accepted a position as assistant professor at the Speech & Hearing clinic at the Oklahoma University Medical Center. After five years in academia, John went into private practice. His practice was named the Oklahoma Psychological and Educational Center. The offices were occupied by Speech Pathologists, Social workers, Teachers of the deaf, tutors, and psychologists.

In addition to his private practice, John worked as a consultant in rehabilitation at the Veterans Hospital; consultant in Speech Pathology at the Children’s Hospital in Tulsa; and the OSU Vocational School in Okmulgee. He taught adjunct classes every Monday night at CSU (UCO) for 30 years, and taught adjunct classes when requested at the OU campus, Rose State, OCU, and Oklahoma Christian College.

In the meantime John was attending graduate Psychology courses at night at OU and UCO. When the Psychologist’ Licensing Law was passed in 1965, John was licensed as a Clinical Psychologist and worked at the profession until he retired in 1995. He loved his work and continued working until he was 86 years old.

John was a member of the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners of Psychology, 1974-1977. He belonged to the appropriate state and national organizations for Psychology, Speech Pathology and Marriage and Family Counseling. He and a member of Junior Hospitality, Mary Clogg, started the Foundation For Disabled Adults around 53 years ago, which is still in existence today.

John was a member of the Oklahoma City Executive Club, the Oklahoma City Tennis Club, The Mayfair Dance Club, The Quail Creek Country Club, The Greens Bridge Club, The Golfers Traveling Club, The Gentlemen’s Poker Club, Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra; Lyric Theatre, Jewel Box Theatre, OCU Opera and Musical Theatre, the YMCA, and Westminster Presbyterian Church.

John is survived by his wife Lillian and his two children Annie and Mike Boland. A Memorial Service will be held Friday, February 17, 2012 at 1:00PM at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 4400 N. Shartel Ave. Memorial Contributions may be made to your Favorite Cause. This man was loved and revered by his students and his family.

Relatives of John Boland are spread across our nation. We remember the Bolands, Heines, Walters, Daniels, Glesons, Soraghans, O’Briens, Battaglia, Pschuchas, McQuiddy, Haunz, Rusconi, Wade, Canon, West, gutte, Vaughn, Cook, Vogt, Ball, Lowry, Rule & Sloop families.