Samuel Boldrick

1947 - 2026

Samuel (Sam) James Boldrick, resident of Coral Gables, passed away peacefully at his home on March 13, 2026. Sam was an award-winning librarian, who devoted his life to public service. He was born in Lebanon, Kentucky, on October 18, 1947, to Mary Rose O'Daniel Boldrick and Samuel Spalding Boldrick. He graduated from Spring Hill College, a Jesuit college in Mobile, Alabama. He majored in Humanities and studied in Mexico City for one semester. After accepting a job at Miami-Dade Public Library, he earned a Master's degree in librarianship from Emory University. For nearly four decades, Sam served as the Curator of the Helen Muir Florida Collection at the Miami-Dade Public Library, where he collected materials about the Sunshine State, including books and manuscripts by more than 500 Florida authors. Bilingual in English and Spanish and deeply knowledgeable about the history and culture of South Florida, Sam held numerous leadership and advisory roles in such organizations as HistoryMiami Museum (Member, Board of Directors), Florida Historical Society (President), Dade Heritage Trust (President), Society of Florida Archivists (President), Gold Coast Railroad Museum (President), and Association of Caribbean University, Research, and Institutional Libraries (President). In 2001, he was named employee of the year for public service in Miami-Dade County. Sam was active in the American Library Association (ALA) for more than 35 years. In 2004, he received the Genealogical Publishing Co./History Section Award presented by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the ALA. He was a parishioner at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove and a graduate of the Education for Ministry Program at the School of Theology of the University of the South in Sewanee. Sam and his husband, Eddy Casado, were together for more than fifty years. They married in 2005 at Bloor Street United Church in Toronto, Canada. Sam was predeceased by his parents and sister, Mary Douglass Boldrick, and is survived by Eddy. A service will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2026, at 11 a.m., at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove.