Richard Leslie Bolton was born on 1/12/1907 in Liverpool, U.K., and died in March of 1971, when I was only 2 and a half, and Barry was only a few months old. Checking with my cousin Doreen, I found out that he was known to his grandchildren as Grandad (Grandma Bolton was Nan). Nan and Grandad came to the United States to visit after I was born, and they held me as a baby. God love him, Grandpa, my Dad's Dad, took a lot of home movies, and so there is movie footage of both my sets of grandparents together from that time.
Grandad's Dad also died young, when Grandad was 14, under tragic circumstances. So at that young age, he became the man of the house, having to go to work to support the family, which was unfortunate because Mom described him as a brilliant scholar. He was great in math, which proved very valuable to the Royal Liver Insurance Company, who hired him at that young age, and employed him all his life. Mom said he was never promoted, but he was responsible for auditing the books. He would have been of age to fight in World War II, but he had poor eyesight, so he was rejected.
On 27 August 1932, Nan (Lillian Wharmby Bolton, b.1908) and Grandad were married, and they had five children: Irene, David, Leslie, Sheila, and Margaret. I was fortunate to meet all but Irene, Mom's older sister, who also died young, of cancer. They lived for many years in a semi-detached at 43 Corwen Crescent, Huyton, Liverpool.
Grandad was a lay preacher in the Methodist Church, according to mom the same church attended by Liverpool soccer hero Billy Liddell. He also played the piano and organ. For many years, I attributed my interest in the piano to Grandma on my Dad's side, but mom's Dad played too, and Mom was proud of me because I was the only grandchild who learned to play. I am crying thinking about this because I had no idea how much that meant to her. Mom insisted that Grandad's piano is now in the possession of my cousin Eva in Wales, though Eva does not think so. I got to play that piano one day. Grandad was the first in church to play Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeed, which he learned to play by ear since the sheet music was sold out at Rushworth and Draper.
Mom spent her life taking care of other people, and she got that in large part from her Dad. Mom described a number of relatives, including Auntie Pearl, who were mistreated but Grandad took care of. Grandad, as I wrote above, began taking care of the family from a very young age. The circumstances of his Dad's death were very tragic--it was suicide. Mom didn't know the details, but said it was because of a business deal gone wrong.
I wish I had had the chance to know Grandad better, but having had this final conversation with Mom, I am present to the impact he had on my life. Sometimes it's hard to see the impact events of the past have on you, but your life can be influenced by people you never even knew, who died years before you came along. Such was the case with my Grandad.
