Patricia Callaway Bolz

Patricia Alene Callaway Bolz, 83, of Tucson, Arizona, passed away peacefully on November 27, 2025, under the loving care of her daughter, Shirley Nichols, and her husband, John Bolz.

Patricia was born on July 16, 1942, in rural Hughes County, Oklahoma, to Lenard Callaway and Margi Golahon. Patricia—who mostly went by Tricia—grew up in Midwest City, Oklahoma. Her mother, Margi Golahon, died when she was 12 years old, leaving Tricia as the big sister to her brothers, Tony and Michael Callaway. She graduated from Midwest City High School. Tricia married Dennis Smith and had two children, Shirley and Scott Smith. She earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Oklahoma (1964) and a master's degree in psychology from Sangamon State University in Springfield, Illinois (1973). She valued education deeply, often saying it was the one thing that could never be taken away from a person.

She went on to have a wide, varied, and fearless career. She taught at Townsend Elementary School in Del City, Oklahoma, and then at Kerr Junior High, also in Del City. After moving to Chicago with her young family, including 10-day-old baby Scott in 1968, she taught on the South Side of Chicago at Park Elementary in the Englewood neighborhood. After teaching, she served in many roles as a leader, psychologist, and therapist, caring for the mental health of patients and communities in southern Illinois and the Chicagoland area. She was the executive director of Connection of Lake County, Illinois—a 24-hour telephone crisis service staffed by 150 volunteers—from 1975 to 1980. She also worked as a mental health provider at Lake County Mental Health in Waukegan and Chicago-Reed Mental Health.

Tricia had a real entrepreneurial spirit. Her business ventures ranged from selling computer portraits at county fairs in the 1980s to working as an executive recruiter in Dallas to being a real estate agent and owning a salon in Tucson. After Tricia married John Bolz in 1985, they built a loving partnership—successful in friendship, marriage, and business. Tricia and John worked together in Chicago, Missouri, and Tucson. They owned the Westwood Hotel in Joplin, Missouri, in the 1990s. John said that he and Tricia partnered in real estate, buying and selling more than 100 properties over the years. She was involved with the Joplin Chamber of Commerce.

Tricia and John were always open to new places and new homes; she kept a small cardboard box pasted with her home-address stickers, and by the end of her life, more than 20 stickers covered that little box. Together, John and Tricia had a zest for travel and friendships. Tricia loved spending time in Cancún and Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. Generous with her time and sense of fun, she always wanted her children, grandchildren, and extended family to join her on vacations in Mexico or pontooning on Grand Lake O' the Cherokees in Oklahoma—anywhere her "water babies" could splash around.

In her personal life, Tricia had the lively sense of humor she said was given to the Callaways. She loved to laugh, was warm and welcoming, and had a true heart for people—offering extra care to patients and friends alike. She loved museums, festivals, and botanical gardens. A dedicated Christmas elf, she hosted epic cookie-parties in Chicago. She and John gathered friends wherever they went and made people feel incredibly welcome. She loved writing, words, women's rights (she served on the board of Soroptimist International of Joplin), and big ideas. She deeply explored her spirituality; raised Baptist, her adult faith journey included attending Unitarian and Unity churches. She strived to be the best person she could be, to overcome life's tragedies, and to show up for the people she loved and who loved her.

She was a loving mother and grandmother. She and John spoiled their grandchildren with trips to the pool, soda, and popcorn. Tricia is survived by her spouse, John Bolz; her first husband, Dennis Smith; her brothers, Mike Callaway and Tony Callaway; her and John's children Scott Smith, Shirley Smith, Darlene Dodge Lipczynski, John Bolz, and Matthew Bolz; and her grandchildren Leo Dannersmith, Sophie Dannersmith, Eli Nichols, Becky Nichols O'Connell, Jessica Detkowski, Deven Johnson, Jack Bolz, Sam Bolz, Brigid Bolz, Brandon Bolz, and Matty Bolz. For more information, contact Scott Smith. In lieu of flowers, please complete an entry in the guest book or the family requests that donations be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness or Soroptimist International of the Americas, Inc. A celebration of life in Tucson is being planned for Sunday, February 1, from Noon to 2 p.m. at the Coppercrest Clubhouse. Tricia's smile, laugh, and love will remain in the hearts of all who knew her.