Utah Catholic receives national Scouting awards

Friday, Apr. 19, 2024

BOUNTIFUL — Joe Bouley, a St. Olaf parishioner and longtime volunteer, has been recognized with two prestigious Scouting awards. On April 5 he received the National Catholic Committee on Scouting’s St. George award, given to individuals who have made significant and outstanding contributions to the spiritual development of Catholic youth in Scouting. 

Bouley is only the second Utahn to receive the award. Donald Ellefson, a founding member of the Great Salt Lake Council Catholic Committee on Scouting, was an honoree in 2008. 

On May 7 Bouley will receive the Boy Scouts of America Silver Antelope Award for his exceptional character and distinguished service to youth. He will be one of 31 individuals nationwide to receive the emblem and one of just 3,298 recipients since the award was created in 1942. 

“I feel honored [to receive the award,]” Bouley said, “and I think the highlight for me is the reaction of all my friends and just other people I don’t know, who pat me on the back and say, ‘Hey, well deserved.’ It’s kind of overwhelming.”

As a youth, Bouley was a Cub Scout and Boy Scout. Then, as an adult, he got involved to support his children. He has served 25 years as a Scout leader, 17 of them in Utah. He was the St. Olaf Cub Scout master for six years when his children were young.

“I get satisfaction from watching the kids grow,” Bouley said of his lifelong affinity for Scouting. “I also get satisfaction from the relationship – suddenly the other adults, they’re friends for life. And the basic thing is watching the kids grow and watching them succeed.”

These days Bouley is involved with the nondenominational Troop 220, which is sponsored by the Bountiful Elks Club. Beyond his local service, Bouley is the National Catholic Committee on Scouting’s vice president for religious activities and relationships. He is also a member of the diocesan Catholic Committee on Scouting.

Along with his service in the Scouts, Bouley is the Deputy Grand Knight in his Knights of Columbus council and serves as the liaison for the Utah Knights of Columbus Veterans Administration. 

“I’ve known Joe for 10 years now,” said St. Olaf Council Grand Knight Brian Vallese. “He’s one of the key Knights in our council that I can always rely on to volunteer. In the Knights we have this saying, ‘We’re the same 10 guys.’ ... Joe is always one of those guys.”

Bouley is also very involved in his parish, having served for five years as parish council president, and in various other capacities. He has been a Red Cross volunteer and has helped out at the George E. Wahlen VA hospital. 

“It’s been instilled in me my whole life, to give back and help other people,” Bouley said of his long history of service. “It’s all wrapped together, you going to church and being at Knights and doing charity work, it just becomes of part of your life.”

Bouley is not the only family member to excel in Scouting. All six of his children have been Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, and his wife Sara was the leader for two Girl Scout troops at the same time that included daughters Rachael and Caroline.

In 2018 his daughter Eleanor became the first female in Utah to receive the Ad Altare Dei emblem, which helps Catholic youth develop a fully Christian way of life. The following year twins David and Caroline earned the Pillar of Faith emblem; they were the first Utahns to receive the award. 

A retired Air Force and United Airlines pilot, Joe Bouley now works as an administrator in his wife Sara’s law firm, Action Law, LLC.