About Dolores Olive Boschert

Dolores Olive Boschert was born March 17th, 1999 to Mike and Julie Boschert in St. Charles, MO.  She was the sixth daughter with five older sisters.  Elizabeth, Jackie, Rosemary, Teresa and Carolyn received green carnations at school from Dad to announce her arrival.  She became an older sister in October of 2004 when Maggie was born and completed the seven daughter family that Mike and Julie love more than anything in the world.  

Dolores was a great kid and was always bringing fun to the family.  We often teased her that she was from Mars - and called her Martian.  She laughed through the teasing and simply enjoyed life.  At about six years old she visited the local fire department and that is where she began her "passion" in life.  Becoming a firefighter became a life goal and she worked hard on that goal.  She attended St. Cletus elementary school and played volleyball, soccer and also began swimming at Blanchette park on the Barracuda swim team.  She found another passion in swimming.  

Dolores became "Dolo" while in high school on the swim team.  The nickname stuck as did her talents in swimming.  Dolo LOVED to win.  Her heart was HUGE and overcame any shortfalls in swim matches and other competitions.  She holds seven school records in swimming and she enjoyed morning 6:00am practices more than any person should that gets up at 4:45am.  Her senior year she had an injured shoulder that kept her from swimming at a high level.  Instead of sulking, Dolo just switched to diving and although never diving before - went on to do very well as a diver.  She would have loved to swim at the college level, but her hurt shoulder prevented her.  No problem - Dolo was competitive at many things.  As a high school sophomore, she and a male classmate won the pizza eating contest even though the seniors were heavily favored.  Dolo just liked to win and said "I ate a lot more pizza than the guy did - I'm just saying!"

Dolores graduated from Duchesne High School in 2017 and moved 20 blocks away from home to attend Lindenwood University.  She graduated in three years with a paramedicine degree.  She was active in college with the Newman Center and would never pass up any event that advertised free food or a free t-shirt.  She did a lot of shadowing in both emergency rooms and fire departments (she even rode the helicopter ambulance during a shift) and was definitely hooked on being a paramedic and firefighter.  

She graduated in 2020 during the pandemic and went to work for CHEMS (Christian Hospital Emergency Management System) as a paramedic and was quickly out rolling in an ambulance every chance she got.  The stories she shared with family and friends were always full of passion and love for her job.  She even recorded a "tri-fecta" in one 24 hour shift -- she delivered a baby, used the paddles to bring someone back to life, and lost the life of one person.  Her tri-fecta was a special achievement that doesn't happen too often.  She would say - "Dad, some paramedics go years or even a career without delivering a baby, and I did it in my first year!"   Dolo was also voted paramedic of the year by her fellow CHEMS team and received that honor in early May of 2022.  She truly loved her job and her coworkers and her passion for being a first responder to help people shined through her energy, enthusiasm and silliness.   

Dolores entered the St. Louis Fire Academy in Spring of 2021 and graduated in July of 2021.  She was super proud of the achievement and was actively looking into finding the perfect department to join at the time of her death.  At her graduation, Dolo's smile and wave to EVERY classmate in the graduation ceremony was priceless.  She truly LOVED people.  She truly LOVED being a first responder.  She was destined for great things.

Dolores was SUPER competitive and was always looking to improve herself.  Being in a male dominated career, she was going to make sure she was as physically strong as she could be to compete with the men in her department.  She was working out alone at club fitness in the early morning hours of May 24, 2022.  Somehow a tragic accident occurred and Dolo was crushed under some weights she was lifting.  Her precious life ended and a true light of passion and love was snuffed out.  

The wake and funeral for Dolo was truly overwhelming to the Boschert family.  The outpouring of meals, prayers, gifts and financial support was a true testament to how special Dolo was.  The amazing "Blue Crew" (Paramedics and firefighters) were present in unbelievable ways.  From having an honor guard at the wake to having hundreds of uniformed first responders at the funeral along with fifteen ambulances and a firetruck (ladder extended) with an American Flag flowing over the entrance of St. Cletus Church to creating a 45 minute tribute drive past the fire station Dolo's ambulance ran from in Ferguson with fire trucks on every overpass on the way to Dolo's final resting place -- we were truly amazed.  

In only 23 years Dolo's impact was impressive beyond measure and we hope the Dolomemorial Fund and scholarships that we created from the generosity of many, many people giving of their treasure along with some of Dolo's treasure can continue to impact the world. 

Our hope is that the scholarship recipients can learn about Dolo's passion and love for doing a job she loved.  In a small way, Dolo will continue to give, live and impact the world.  She would be happy!