SHARON TWP. — The renaming of the Sharon Center Post Office received a warm reception on a chilly Thursday morning from residents and legislators during an hour-long ceremony.

About 40 people attended the event at the newly named Emil Bolas Post Office, 1332 Sharon-Copley Road, which honored a longtime resident and public servant.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Avon, right, greets Sharon Township Trustee Kimberly Bolas-Miller and her son, Benjamin Miller, Thursday morning before a ceremony to rename the Sharon Center post office after her father, Emil Bolas. (GAZETTE PHOTO BY STEVE GRAZIER)

“He was always joyful of life and had deep personal relationships with people,” said U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Avon. “We celebrate him today.”

The senator referred to Bolas as a pillar of the Sharon community.

“He knew everyone and would visit people during cold days like today just to see if they were OK,” he said.

Bolas served nearly nine consecutive terms, or about 35 years, as a Sharon Township trustee and 11 years as chairman of the township’s zoning appeals board. He died in 2008.

“It’s a wonderful honor and a wonderful way to remember my father and mother, Carolyn,” said Kimberly Bolas-Miller, who like her father, serves the community as a township trustee and attended the event with her son, Benjamin Miller. “It was great to see all the people who showed up. It was a nice tribute to my family.”

During the ceremony, Ohio House Speaker Bill Batchelder, R-Medina, said that Bolas was an expert in the “township form of government.”

“Emil had a great life, and it was well-lived with friends, family and neighbors,” Batchelder said. “He was a public servant in every sense.”

The post office designation honoring Bolas was signed into law by President Barack Obama on Jan. 4, 2011. A bill renaming the post office was sponsored by former U.S. Rep. John Boccieri, a Democrat who lost his bid for re-election to Wadsworth Republican Jim Renacci in November 2010. Brown carried the bill in the U.S. Senate.

Longtime Sharon postal clerk Pattie Jameyson said it was an honor to know Bolas.

“He was a sweet man,” said Jameyson, a 33-year employee of the post office. “It was important as a community to come together today.”

Contact Steve Grazier at (330) 721-4012 or sgrazier@medina-gazette.com.

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