Boysie Bollinger selected to receive The Times-Picayune Loving Cup

It’s a long walk down the hall to Boysie Bollinger’s 24th-floor office. Along the way, the walls are covered with photographs telling the story of a bayou boy who made good.

There he is, all dressed up, in the White House with several Republican presidents, and there he is, decked out in camo with his hunting buddies, their quarry displayed at their booted feet. Augmenting the photos is an abundance of plaques, certificates, engraved invitations and other memorabilia, as well as the academic hoods he wore when he received honorary doctorates from Webb Institute and Nicholls State University.

Bollinger’s corner office has a panoramic view of downtown New Orleans and the Mississippi River, a sweep that takes in his penthouse on the 30th floor of the Four Seasons Hotel. Nestled on a windowsill are models of his Gulfstream jet and helicopter.

“I’ve had a remarkable life,” said Bollinger, 73, who expanded the shipyard his father founded into the biggest vessel-repair business in the South before selling it in 2014. He is now chairman and CEO of Bollinger Enterprises and one of the state's most prolific Republican donors.

Philanthropic force

But that’s not all there is to Bollinger. Although the family business bears his surname, that name has become familiar to thousands in the New Orleans area who might never venture near a shipyard or move in political circles.

A $5 million gift from Bollinger and his wife, Joy, brought lions back to the Audubon Zoo, and a $20 million gift to the National WWII museum included funding for the “Canopy of Peace” sculpture that hovers over the Warehouse District complex. Bollinger paid off the mortgage of the Youth Empowerment Project’s Central City headquarters, and contributed more than $1 million last year to establish the ACE Scholarships Endowment Fund for the children of low-income families.

He also has been a consistent supporter of St. Michael Special School, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

“He has a special place in his heart for the kids and adults who come here,” said head of school Cissy LaForge. “Our kids need someone to be their voice. They need someone to advocate for them, to love them, to treat them with respect and dignity, and he just does.”

In short, Bollinger and his wife are a force in local philanthropy. In addition to financial generosity, Bollinger has bestowed the gift of his time, with service on–by his estimate–about 150 boards. He has chaired around 70 of them.

“I’ve been active,” he said as he settled into the chair at his desk. “I don’t get tired. I have a lot of energy.”

An 'immeasurable blessing'

In recognition of his energy and generosity, Bollinger has been picked to receive The Times-Picayune Loving Cup for 2022. The award has been bestowed since 1901 to men and women who have worked unselfishly for the community without expectation of public recognition or material reward. A public presentation will be held at a later date.

Upon learning of his selection, “I was shocked,” Bollinger said. “Needless to say, this is a big honor.”

“People would say that you can’t progress in New Orleans unless you’re from New Orleans,” said Bollinger, who was born on the living-room floor of his family’s home in Lockport. “I’m from the bayou, and I’ve been chairman of everything in New Orleans. If you live here and are willing to do good work, you will be accepted.”

“I could not be more pleased,” said Stephen Watson, president and CEO of the National WWII Museum, which has received about $22 million from the Bollingers. “He’s everything the Loving Cup represents.”

Because of his support of so many charitable institutions, Bollinger is “one of the immeasurable blessings in this city,” said Aulston Taylor, St. Augustine High School’s president and CEO. Bollinger helped the all-boys Catholic school purchase a practice field close to its 7th Ward campus.

Activist father

Bollinger said he inherited his activism from his father. In addition to founding his business, the elder Bollinger was a Lockport alderman, a scoutmaster and a director of civic and business organizations, including the Public Affairs Research Council, the first Louisiana Lottery Board and the Central Lafourche Chamber of Commerce.

He also helped build the Republican party in Louisiana, serving as its chairman and, in Gov. David Treen’s administration, as secretary of Public Safety and Corrections.

“I grew up with that,” Bollinger said. “When he went to meetings, he would take me along with him.”

He also inherited his first name – Donald – from his father, but no one calls him by that name. His nickname, he said, was the outgrowth of his mother’s fondness for Tarzan’s adopted son, who, in a series of movies, was known simply as Boy.

“When I was about 2 years old, she started calling me Boysie, and it stuck,” he said. “When I went off to college, my father suggested I try using Donald. I tried that for three or four days. My friends started laughing, so that was the end of that.

“I was at a Christmas party in the White House, and George H.W. Bush, across the room, yelled, ‘Boysie!’ and I knew it was going to stick forever.”

Except for two years at St. Joseph Seminary College, when he was considering entering the Catholic priesthood, Bollinger never worked anywhere but the family business, including a part-time job when he was at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette).

“I lived in the shipyard, I worked every day in the shipyard,” he said. “I couldn’t wait to finish college so I could go to work.”

Incessant drive

This drive has propelled him through his business and civic lives.

“Everything he gets involved with, he winds up running," said his wife Joy. "He’s driven internally. He likes being in charge. I don’t think he knows how not to be in charge.”

He agrees, although, he said, that might not have been the intended result.

“Sometimes it’s accidental, when I get exposed to things that I get pretty passionate about,” Bollinger said. “I have a bad habit of getting really engaged when I’m active on something and ending up being chairman of it when I never, ever, ever set out with that in mind.”

But even Bollinger learned to set limits. Early in the 2000s, after his wife asked that they spend more leisure time together, he vowed to turn down anything that came up. In the next year, Bollinger said, he rejected invitations to join 42 boards.

But in 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck, and he was appointed to the Louisiana Recovery Authority and the Bring New Orleans Back Commission, “sucking me back in to be active on the civic side of things,” he said, adding, “I have not done a good job of getting out of stuff.”

Bollinger, who has three sons, five grandchildren and a great-grandchild, walked away from his business, too, after he sold it in 2014 for an undisclosed sum.

But his planned retreat has not taken him out of the limelight. Earlier this month, Bollinger was one of 13 Americans tapped for membership in the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, which not only honors achievement but also raises money for scholarships.

And it hasn’t stopped the requests that he serve on boards or provide philanthropic support, Bollinger said, smacking a 3-inch pile of such entreaties on his desk.

“I don’t go around looking for something to get involved in,” he said. “It usually finds me.”

Members of the 2022 Loving Cup selection committee were Leah Brown, Sarah Louise Ham, Dana Hansel, Bill Kearney and Robert Tucker.

Previous Loving Cup recipients are:

Frank T. Howard, 1901; Isidore Newman, 1902; Sophie B. Wright, 1903; Dr. A.W. DeRoaldes, 1904; Charles Janvier, 1905; W.R. Bloomfield, 1906; and Ida Richardson, 1907. No awards were presented in 1908 and 1909.

Dr. Sara T. Mayo, 1910; Hugh McCloskey, 1911; R.M. Walmsley, 1912; Leon C. Simon, 1913; Deborah Milliken, 1914; W.B. Thompson, 1915; W.R. Irby, 1916; Mrs. John Dibert, 1917; Eleanor McMain, 1918; Mrs. James Oscar Nixon, 1919; Charles Weinberger, 1920; Jean Gordon, 1921; Rudolf S. Hecht, 1922; Simon Schwartz, 1923; Frank B. Williams, 1924; Rabbi Emil W. Leipziger, 1925; and W.J. Warrington, 1926.

J.P. Butler, 1927; Brig. Gen. Allison Owen, 1928; Mrs. A.J. Stallings,

1929; Edgar B. Stern, 1930; B.C. Casanas, 1931; Thomas F. Cunningham, 1932; Felix P. Dreyfous, 1933; Charles A. Favrot, 1934; Warren Kearny, 1935; Nicholas Bauer, 1936; Col. L. Kemper Williams, 1937; and Samuel Zemurray, 1938.

Joseph A. Airey, 1939; Dr. Rudolph Matas, 1940; Charles E. Dunbar Jr., 1941; William G. Zetzmann, 1942; Sister Stanislaus Malone, 1943; A.B. Paterson, 1944; Dr. Alton Ochsner, 1945; Mrs. Joseph E. Friend, 1946; Mrs. Charles F. Buck Jr., 1947; Charles E. Fenner, 1948; Mrs. James Weaks Reily, 1949; and Harry Latter, 1950.

Harry McCall, 1951; Joseph H. Epstein, 1952; Mrs. Ernest A. Robin, 1953; Carmelite Janvier, 1954; A.B. Freeman, 1955; Clifford F. Favrot, 1956; Capt. Neville Levy, 1957; Crawford H. Ellis, 1958; James Gilly Jr., 1959; Martha Gilmore Robinson, 1960; Leon Heymann, 1961; Mrs. Robert Laird, 1962; and Percival Stern, 1963.

Edith Stern, 1964; Darwin S. Fenner, 1965; Edgar A.G. Bright, 1966; Rabbi Julian B. Feibelman, 1967; Harold Salmon Sr., 1968; Lucile Blum, 1969; Lester J. Lautenschlaeger, 1970; the Rev. J.D. Grey, 1971; Clayton L. Nairne, 1972; Norma Monnin Hynes, 1973; William B. Burkenroad Jr., 1974; Francis C. Doyle, 1975; Albert W. Dent, 1976; Richard West Freeman, 1977; the Rev. Peter V. Rogers, 1978; and Harry McCall Jr., 1979.

James J. Coleman Sr., 1980; Armand LeGardeur, 1981; Archbishop Philip Hannan, 1982; Ed Rowley, 1983; Rosa Freeman Keller, 1984; Bryan Bell, 1985; Michael J. Molony Jr., 1986; Mary Pumilia, 1987; A. Louis Read, 1988; Dave Dixon, 1989; Carolyn Gay "Blondie" Labouisse, 1990; Norman Francis, 1991; and Diana Lewis, 1992.

John F. Bricker, 1993; Betty Wisdom, 1994; Anne Milling, 1995; Lester Kabacoff, 1996; Leah Chase, 1997; Sunny Norman, 1998; Herschel L. Abbott Jr., 1999; Alden McDonald, 2000; Waldemar Nelson, 2001; C. Allen Favrot, 2002; Fran Villere, 2003; Moise Steeg Jr., 2004; and Louis Freeman, 2005.

Ruthie Frierson, 2006; Bob Brown, 2007; R. King Milling, 2008; Scott Cowen, 2009; Tommy Cvitanovich, 2010; William Goldring, 2011; Mark Surprenant, 2012; Millie Charles, 2013; Gary Solomon, 2014; Phyllis Taylor, 2015; Roger Ogden, 2016; Cleland Powell, 2017; Michael Smith, 2018; Bob Merrick, 2019; Poco Sloss, 2020; and Gayle Benson, 2021.