William J. Bolton, a native of Nashville, Tenn., a 47-year resident of California and a 13-year resident of Joshua Tree, died Oct. 16, 2007, at home in Yucca Valley. He was 82 years old.
The son of Uriah Bolton and Carrie Donelson Bolton, he was born May 11, 1925. Mr. Bolton was married for 16 years to his lifetime friend, Carmen Bolton.
He was a World War II veteran who served with the 82nd Airborne Division. He earned a Parachute Badge, Combat Infantry Badge and Bronze Star medal.
He worked on the railroad in Michigan in the late 1950s and moved to Downey, where he lived in the 1960s and 1970s. He worked with a catering business.
Mr. Bolton liked to go fishing with his buddies to Laughlin, Nev. He moved to Bullhead City, Ariz., in the 1980s.
Mr. Bolton was a taxi cab driver for Lucky Cab for 15 years before he retired in 1993. He moved to Joshua Tree in 1994 to be closer to his family and a church member at Yucca Valley Church of Christ.
He is survived by daughter and son-in-law Vanessa and Mike Wright of Yucca Valley, granddaughter and grandson Carrie and Michael Wright of Yucca Valley, granddaughter Jamie Bolton of Joshua Tree, great-granddaughter Cailey of Yucca Valley, great-granddaughter and great-grandson Taylie and Mikey of Yucca Valley, great-granddaughter and great-grand-son Sierra and Brendon of Joshua Tree and his half-sisters and their husbands, Mary and Richard Vannucii of Waterford, Pa., and Peggy and Kenny Welden of Tracy.
A service will be held at 10 a.m. Oct. 27 at Mountain Valley Memorial Park in the Desert Sands Garden with Minister John Turner of Yucca Valley Church of Christ officiating. Mr. Bolton will be laid to rest in Mountain Valley Memorial Park in Joshua Tree.
[The Daily Reporter, Greenfield, IN, 06 Apr 2002, Sat, Page 3] |
[courtesy of Bea Dormanesh]
Niche marker for William J. Bolton in Joshua Tree
Memorial Park, Joshua Tree (San Bernardino County), California.
William enlisted in the Army at Fort Oglethorpe, GA on
1 July 1943.
Pvt Bolton was transferred to Hq 2nd, 508th PIR on 2
March 1944.
In 1 January 1945 Pvt Bolton as evacuated to a field
hospital and classified as a non-combat casualty.
On 9 April 1945, he was transferred to the
Detachment of Patients U.S. Army Hospital Plant #4176 APO 640 which was
located in Malvern Wells, Worcestershire, England.
Pvt Bolton was transferred from the 19th Reinforcement
Depot to Hq 2nd, 508th on 31 May 1945.
He arrived In Newport News, VA on 3 January 1946
aboard the USAT Sedalia Victory. |