IN MEMORIAM: Dean C. Bolton, 59;
Lifelong ‘Quintessential Country Boy’
BURLINGTON – It saddens us to announce the death of Dean Charles Bolton, a loyal, native Burlington Son, on the rainy morning of May 24, 2019.
All of us share a common desire to be remembered when we are gone, and hope that our lives somehow made the world a better place. Upon our demise, it is customary to write an obituary, a brief re-telling of who we were, where we came from, and what we contributed to society. It is also expected that some memory, personality trait or talent be mentioned in which to personalize the fact that we had among us a most extraordinary man who loved life and did everything he could possibly do to continue living it.
What fact or experience could ever be chosen as the most appropriate in which to honor Dean’s place in this world? His story may have ended with cancer, but the impact he made on all who knew him is the real truth. His friends knew who he was, his family loved him for who he was, and grandchildren will always be reminded of the joy they brought him at every visit. The abbreviated facts of Dean’s life are as follows, but his full story can never be honorably or adequately chronicled in one newspaper column. Just know that he was, and always will be.
Dean was born at Fox Hospital in Oneonta on Nov. 3, 1960, to Charles and Elizabeth Bolton. The eldest of five children, he was raised on Cloverleaf Farm on Route 16 in Burlington, one of the most beautiful, bountiful farms in the Butternut Valley.
Dean was the quintessential country boy, working on the farm, riding horses, hunting and fishing, and excelled at it all. He knew every inch of the land, every back road, and to his last day enjoyed driving around and looking at it all like it was the first time.
He utilized all these talents while working as a lineman for REA Electric for 20+ years, all the while dreaming of the day he would retire and return to the land. But while early retirement was achieved, so was the cancer that would ultimately take him away from his beloved Burlington, giving him new lands to explore, a new heaven in which to dwell, and peace as he awaits us all to meet him again.
Dean is survived by his wife Colleen (Mann) Bolton; his daughter Amanda (Matt) Brizzell; son Caleb Bolton, and his step-son Joseph Santiago Jr. His siblings are Cindy (Rob) Cornnell, Dawn (Marty) Slentz, Lisa (Russ) McCall, and Scott (Jen) Bolton. He will be missed especially by his sister-in-law Cathleen Mann (John) Gonsalves, and brother-in-law Mitchell (Teresa) Mann.
His grandchildren Charlie, Elizabeth (Peanut), newly arriving baby boy Brizzell, Aayliah, Layne, and Liam Santiago will always know from whence they came.
He is pre-deceased by his parents Charles and Elizabeth Bolton, special brothers in law Rob Cornnell and David Mann Jr. His uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends are many. We join them in mourning the loss of this special Bolton Boy,
Calling hours will be 4-6:30 p.m. Wednesday May 29, 2019, at the Delker & Terry Funeral Home, 30 South St., Edmeston. A celebration of Dean’s life will follow the calling hours at 6:30 p.m., where everyone’s “Dean stories” will be shared. A short prayer service will be officiated by Pastor Barry Davis of the Burlington Green Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the American Cancer Society, or Catskill Area Hospice who’s selfless missions are a blessing to us all.