born July 6, 1909 -- Boston, Massachusetts
died September 1, 2001 -- Forest Grove, Oregon
Richard Elliott Bolling, trained anthropologist, seafarer, labor organizer, and philosopher, scion of First Families of Virginia and Oregon Pioneers, direct descendant of Pocahontas, spiritual voyager, died in Forest Grove, Oregon on September 1, 2001 of causes related to old age, with his favorite granddaughter Dina Louise Wenzloff at his side.
Born July 6, 1909, in Boston, Massachusetts, he was the son of Richard Elliott Bolling, a surgeon descended from the Red Bollings of Dinwiddy County, Virginia whose lineage has been traced back to Charlemagne, and Elnora Irene Daly, a nurse descended from the Scotts and Dalys of Mount Angel, Puddin River, Oregon.
A graduate in Anthropology from the University of Oregon, where he studied under Luther Cressman, Dick became involved in socialist and labor causes in the 1930s, including the '34 Longshore Strike, and emerged as a merchant seaman.
He was a decorated veteran of the Pacific Theatre in World War Two, having survived many battle encounters, including attack by kamikaze bombers. Following the War, he worked for the US Post Office, and pursued the social work profession, attending the University of Washington School of Social Work, and serving as a case worker for Washington County Welfare for some years.
Tiring of the sawdust mountains of paperwork, he returned to sea in the late 1950s. He considered himself a seadog to the last, and a sea bag was at the foot of his bed ready to go at the time of his death.
Dick Bolling had three daughters by his late first wife Lynn Andersen, the late Mary Irene Crimmins, Constance Lynn Andersen, and Virginia Louise Colyar, all of Tacoma, Washington, and a son by his late second wife Mary Genevieve Goff, Thomas Elliott Bolling of Seattle, Washington, all of whom survive him, together with numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren.