Nicholas Blase Bova

Nicholas Blase Bova, 78, a loving husband, father, and grandfather, passed away December 26th at home in Scottsdale, Arizona. A Mass in celebration of his life will be at St. Bernard of Clairvaux Parish, on Friday, December 30th, at 10:00 am. Visitation will be Thursday evening in the church. He will be buried in St. Louis, Missouri. Nicholas is survived by his wife, Elizabeth (Betty), his son Blase and his wife Gabriela Bova and their son Andres, his daughter Jennifer and her husband Kevin Smolkowski and their children Nicholas, Theresa, Christopher, and Michael Blase, as well as his sister-in-law, Sr. Helen Rosenthal, RSCJ, and brother in law John and his wife Anita Rosenthal. Nicholas was in the Navy during World War II, and served in the Marine Corps during the Korean War. After college at Missouri University, he worked in the motion picture industry in Los Angeles in several positions including Production Designer. A few of the films he worked on were Oklahoma, Ben Hur, and Ocean's 11. He moved back to St. Louis and eventually became Creative Director at Anheuser-Busch, where he retired in 1992. He created Bud Man, Robbie the Robot, and other well-known icons. His talents were diverse and impressive: he composed music and played numerous instruments. On the piano, he could play a beautiful rendition of any song, by ear, after hearing it only once. His paintings were entered in many shows and exhibitions and won prizes in all of them, and in his retirement he became a talented sculptor. Contributions in Nick's name can be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Nick will be deeply missed by all who knew him.