Bobby Snow Boal

BOBBY SNOW BOAL, 95, went home to be with her Lord on October 31, 2022. She was born on January 13, 1927, the daughter of Robert Parker Snow and Ione Grubbs Snow of Valdosta, Georgia. She studied art at the University of Georgia, and her children all have one of her paintings. She worked as an advertising illustrator at Muse's department store and later taught art in the Atlanta public schools. She met her husband, Jan, at First Baptist Church of Atlanta and they married on March 21, 1953. In the fall of 1954, Bobby and Jan moved to Boston where Jan earned his PhD in Mathematics from MIT. While living in Boston, their son Robby and daughter Emily were born. During her time in Boston, Bobby wrote and illustrated a children's book, "A Tree for Phyllis and Me", recounting her childhood climbing trees in south Georgia. In 1960 they moved to Columbia, S.C. where Jan taught at the University of South Carolina. Their third child, Ginger, was born in Columbia.

Bobby considered motherhood to be her calling. She mothered her dolls as a child, grew up to find her fulfillment as a mother to her children, and was a mother figure to many others besides. Her passion for motherhood was reflected in the birthday parties she gave for her children, her focus on encouraging imaginative play (letting her children build forts in the yard and have plays in the garage, finding dollhouse accessories in mundane items), and her love of children's books and poetry.

Bobby was very active in the international ministry at their church in Columbia, teaching English as a second language. She made many lifelong friends from many different countries. During the summer of 1967, Bobby and Jan and their 3 young children traveled around the world, spending 2 months in India where Jan was teaching mathematics, and visiting 18 countries and 3 continents before returning home to the States. In 1969 they moved to Atlanta when Jan became the Chairman of the Math Department at Georgia State University.

In 1985, Jan and Bobby purchased, renovated and opened the Veranda Bed & Breakfast Inn in Senoia, GA. The inn, known for its hospitality, five course dinners and beautiful kaleidoscopes, was featured nationwide on television and in periodicals, including Inn Country USA, Southern Living, Atlanta Magazine, Southern Homes and National Geographic Traveler, and was voted best inn in the US & Canada by inn-goers in Pamela Lanier's Bed and Breakfast Guide. The inn became a favorite of movie producers and hosted actors Elijah Wood, Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Chris O'Donnell, producer Jon Avnet and others like Newt Gingrich.

After 20 years of inn keeping, Jan and Bobby "retired" to Atlanta and opened the Kaleidoscope Shop in Atlanta in 2006. The shop featured the broadest array of kaleidoscopes available in the Southeast. While the physical store closed in 2014, Kaleidoscope Shop still sells kaleidoscopes and other fascinating gifts online. Bobby loved kaleidoscopes, and eagerly attended the annual Brewster Kaleidoscope Society conventions. After a 2 year break due to Covid, she was thrilled to be able to attend one last Kaleidoscope Convention this past May in St. Louis, where she was recognized for her many years of support of the Brewster Kaleidoscope Society, and was presented with a special necklace commissioned from artist Sherry Moser.

After Jan's death on January 16, 2013, after almost 60 years of marriage together, Bobby continued to live in her "treetop" home in Atlanta. Until the last couple of years of her life, she was a familiar sight as she walked a mile or more every day around her neighborhood. After a brief stay in the hospital in October 2022, she returned home to hospice care in mid October. In the next two weeks, still fully engaging with humor and many family stories, she delighted in visits with all of her children, grandchildren and great grands, before she passed peacefully the evening of October 31, 2022, in her home, as was her wish. Bobby is now together again in heaven with Jan, the love of her life.

Bobby is survived by her children, Bob & Laura Boal, Emily (Boal) & Jim Wert Jr., and Ginger (Boal) & Doug Jamieson; grandchildren: Ellen (Boal) Toll, Alex Boal, Michael Boal, James (III) & Christina Wert, Andrew Wert, Erin (Wert) & Megan Banks, Caitlin (Wert) & Mark Burkhead, Amethyst (Jamieson) & Daniel Shey, Merry (Jamieson) & Chris Rowe, and Westley & MaKayla Jamieson; and great-grandchildren: Sophia Wolfe, Lilly Toll, Russell Shey, Emerald Shey, Violet Shey, and Logan Rowe. She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Jana, born in 1957, her sister and brother-in-law, Virginia Snow Harrell and Elmo Harrell, and her husband Jan List Boal.

Bobby was a true Southern lady. She welcomed and fed all who crossed her doorstep. She never met a stranger, and loved to share her love for cooking, art, kaleidoscopes and life. Bobby was a matriarch of faith and love. She had a long prayer list, and faithfully prayed daily for all her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, neighbors and friends. She loved well and lived fully, treasuring every day that God gave her. Exemplifying her giving heart to the end, Bobby donated her body to Emory Medical School.

A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held at Briarcliff Baptist Church at 3039 Briarcliff Rd, Atlanta 30329 on Saturday, November 26, 2022 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Briarcliff Baptist Church (Stained Glass Fund) or Compassion International.