Obituary: Wilma R. Boldt
Wilma R. Boldt, 92, of Kinston, North Carolina, passed away on October 17, 2026, at Magnolia Cottage Family Care in Dover, North Carolina.
A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at 3 PM. Interment will follow at Colfax Presbyterian Church in Grundy County, Iowa, at a later date.
Wilma Maxine Robinson was born to Esther Brandt Robinson and Max Robinson on August 29, 1934, in Primghar, Iowa. She spent her childhood on a farm near Harris, Iowa, and attended a one-room school for nine years. Wilma was very active in 4-H, winning numerous awards. She graduated from Hartley High School, where she was homecoming queen, a cheerleader, and in the band and chorus.
She received a teaching certificate in elementary education from Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa) in 1954 and taught for three years in the public schools in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
In the spring of 1953, Wilma met Don Boldt on a blind date. When he asked for a second date in the fall of 1953, she could not remember who he was. They were married on June 12, 1955, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in May City, Iowa.
When Don was called to active duty at Hill AFB, Utah, she enrolled in the University of Utah, where she received a BS in education and was elected to the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. Her first-born son was born on the day she graduated from Utah.
Because of her husband’s graduate education, military service, and business career, she lived in Iowa, Utah, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Australia, England, and Georgia, before moving to Kinston in 1979.
At Lenoir Memorial Hospital, she accumulated over 23,000 volunteer service hours since 1981. She was president of the Lenoir Memorial Auxiliary and volunteer manager and buyer for the Cheer Corner, the hospital gift shop. She founded and chaired the “Lights of Love” which has raised over one million dollars for Lenoir UNC Oncology Services. In 2002, she was inducted into the LMH Hall of Fame.
Mrs. Boldt was chair of the American Hospital Association Committee on Volunteers for 2003, the top hospital volunteer position in America. She served five years on the AHA Committee on Volunteers with responsibility for approximately 1.5 million hospital volunteers and auxilians. She served on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Society of Hospital Volunteers/Auxilians for nine years and was president for two years.
In 2013, she received the Governor’s Medallion for Volunteer Services, was named Lenoir County Citizen of the Year in 2016 and was given a Paul Harris Fellowship by the Kinston Rotary Club for her work as a hospital volunteer.
In the community, Mrs. Boldt served as president of the Friends of Neuse Regional Library, president of PEO Chapter AI, president of Meals on Wheels, president of the Friends of the ECU Performing Arts Series, director of the Friends of ECU Joyner Library, director and secretary of the Kinston Country Club, director of the Community Council for the Arts, director of the Kinston Chapter of the North Carolina Symphony, and a Red Cross volunteer.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Kinston and served as an elder, deacon, on two pulpit committees, chairing one, and in the church choir. She was moderator and Life member of the Women of the Church. She was named an Outstanding Older Adult by the Presbytery of New Hope.
International travel was very important to Wilma and Don, and they lived in and visited 47 countries and all seven continents. She was a self-taught gourmet cook.
She is survived by her husband, Donald, of 71 years; sons, David Boldt (Sharon) of Winter Springs, FL, and Dr. John Boldt (Paula) of LaGrange, NC; grandsons, Jason, Brandon, and Andrew; great-granddaughter Catalina; and sister Margaret Remmers of May City, IA.
In addition to her parents, she is preceded in death by her son, Thomas Boldt, and brother, Rev. William Robinson.
The family would like to thank the staff at Magnolia Cottage Family Care for the excellent and loving care that Wilma received for the past four years.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be donated to the First Presbyterian Church Music Fund, 2101 North Heritage Street, Kinston, NC 28501, or the Lenoir Hospital Foundation, PO Box 1678, Kinston, NC 28503.
Arrangements made by Edwards Funeral Home & Cremations. Online condolences may be made at www.edwardsfhc.com
