Megan Elizabeth Boken was a young woman born in Santa Monica, CA and raised in Wheaton, IL. Her family called her Megan, but friends and teammates knew her as BoBo, Bokes, and Boken.
Megan was an accomplished Division I scholar-athlete at Saint Louis University. She was a four-year starter on the SLU Billiken volleyball team, and served as team captain her senior year. She earned All Atlantic 10 Conference honors her junior and senior seasons. Megan played on Billiken teams that won two A-10 regular season titles, captured the 2008 A-10 Championship crown, and made two appearances at the NCAA tournament in 2008 and 2009. Megan’s academic achievements earned her a spot on the A-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll, and she was a member of SLU’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Megan graduated from SLU in 2011, earning a B.A. in business administration with a concentration in marketing.
As a high school volleyball player, Megan led the St. Francis Spartans (Wheaton, IL) to two state championships in 2004 and 2006. She was selected as the Captain of the Chicago Tribune All-State team her senior year. In addition, Megan contributed to several AAU Championships and a USA Volleyball National Championship during her time at Sports Performance Volleyball Club.
After graduating from SLU, Megan set to work as a financial advisor in St. Louis, MO and Wheaton, IL. Her thirst for competition never abated. Outside the office, Megan kept busy by competing in a half-marathon in fall 2011 and an Olympic-distance triathlon in spring 2012. She was training to run a marathon in fall 2012.
Megan’s athletic and academic achievements are impressive, but above all she was known for her boisterous laugh and contagious smile. Megan was persistently optimistic and always knew just what to say lift up those around her. Megan showed us all what it meant to be a teammate and a friend, a sister and a daughter. She was a model for how to prepare, how to inspire others on and off the court, and how to compete at the highest level purely for the joy of it.