James Eugene Bolton was born March 31, 1924, at his grandmother’s
house on a farm near Hamill, SD to Clover (Milton) and Louis Bolton. Jim was the oldest son in the family and his brother, Donald, is the
youngest. They had older twin sisters who died shortly after birth.
Jim attended Winner High School where he graduated on May 20, 1943. On June 2 of that year, he entered active service in the United States Army. He served as a gunner at Fort Bliss, TX, and a finance clerk at Camp Bowie, TX, earned his liaison pilot wings at Camp Hood, TX, and finished out his service in Special Troops at Fort Sam Houston, TX.
During his three years in the service, Jim earned the rank of staff sergeant.
After returning from the service, Jim married Della Ann Frantz of Ideal,SD, in June of 1948. Together they have seven children: Scott, Barbara,
Bradley, Garnet, Guyla, Tammy, and Tony. In the early years of this marriage, Jim and Della lived in Winner where they owned and ran the Sweet Shop soda fountain. They then moved and farmed and ranched near
Ideal, Murdo, and Presho until moving to Colome in the early 60’s.
While living in Colome Jim owned and operated, with the help of his sons, Bolton Ditching and Trenching. The family also ran a bluegrass lawn sod business, bottle fed hundreds of Holstein calves, and ran a dairy farm. Later in Jim’s life he worked for the city of Colome as Utilities Manager.
Jim married Jan Petersen in 1985 and they have two children: Clayton and Lacey.
The happiest times for Jim were when he was hunting and fishing with his sons, taking road trips reminiscing about camping at Ghost Hawk Park along with other family outings, and spending so many meaningful times with his family and good friends.
Jim passed away on May 22, 2015 at Avera Rosebud Country Care Center at the age of 91.
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