Irving Lester Bolds

Marietta Monitor

June 28, 2002, pg 4

Submitted by: Martha N. Reddout

Graveside services for Irving Lester Bolds, 81, of Marietta, will be held at 11 a.m. today (Friday), June 28, in Lakeview Cemetery, Marietta, with Jeff McLemore officiating.

Mr. Bolds was born July 9, 1920, at Joppa, Illinois, the son of Lester Bey and Ruth Magdalena Royer Bolds. He died Monday, June 24, 2002, in Mercy Health-Love County Hospital, Marietta.

Mr. Bolds had been a resident of Love County since 1972, moving here from Clinton. He and Gracie Lee Skaggs were married May 27, 1947, in Henderson, Kentucky. A 1938 graduate of St. Elmo High School, Mr. Bolds served four years with the U.S. Navy Seabees during World War II, the Construction Battalion in the South Pacific. He then worked various jobs in the oil field for 15 years, including driller, tool pusher and salesman. While making their home in Clinton, Mr. Bolds purchased a convenience store. After the family moved to Marietta in 1972, he worked for Little Brownie Bakery for 13 years and then was employed as a security guard at Falconhead. Mr. Bolds was a member of the Burch Bros. Post of the American Legion in Marietta and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars No. 4574 in Ardmore, serving as a past Post Commander. He also helped to organize the Greater Southwest Historical Museum in Ardmore. Mr. Bolds was a member of Marietta's First Baptist Church.

Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Gracie Lee Bolds of the home; two daughters and son-in-law, Linda D. and Jon Raabe of Sanger, Texas, and Jerri Ann Bolds of the home; a granddaughter, LesLee Bolds of the home; two nieces and a nephew.

Mr. Bolds was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Mildred Sweetwater.

Services are under the direction of Flanagan-Watts Funeral Home, Marietta.