John Boles Obituary

I don't know Mr. Eric Riley, but there are no words to describe how he wrote his memories of John (Mr.Boles). How do I follow up after that?! Well, I would like to say that I have known John and his family for 24 years. A truly amazing family! I am so sorry to all of you and sending you huge hugs! He will be missed in our office. He loved to tell me jokes. He always had me laughing. He was a genuine person and loved his family so much. I apologize I can't make it to the funeral, but I will always remember him. God has a new angel in heaven. Sincerely, Wendy Rhoten

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. Mr. Boles played an integral role in my life growing up. He was kind, quick-witted, smart, and very understanding. If anyone understood human factors, it would be Mr. Boles. In brief, Mr. Boles had a lot of redeeming qualities.


He used to call me Erc. I am not sure if he did not like names with two vowels in them or if it was code to warn the family here comes 'irk' to spend the night. It was hard to hear the difference between whether the nickname started with an e or an i...

I will never forget going to the Boles's house, on almost any idle Sunday afternoon during football season, and see Mr. Boles watching his beloved Cowboys while doing bills. Perhaps if the Cowboys were doing well, it would alleviate the stress of looking at bills. Conversely, at times, I thought to myself, it could also double the stress if they were not playing well. Yet, you could never measure Mr. Boles's thoughts or feelings about any topic because his demeanor was so benevolent and kindhearted.

We used to play touch football in a yard next to the Boles's house, and every once in a while you would see Mr. Boles peek out the door to see how good we could be when we are all dreaming of being football stars. I remember him giving my youngest brother, Mark, the highest compliment by telling him he has an amazing ability to catch the football.

I will never forget Mr. Boles taking us to see Conan the Barbarian on the opening night. He drove us across town after working all day, late at night, to ensure Mike and I were the first of our friends to see the movie.

Mike and I used to joke about how our dad's liked the oddest genres of music when we were teenagers. My dad liked classical music and Mr. Boles liked country music. Mr. Boles would be happy to know that he converted me into a country music fan. Yet, Mr. Boles was the furthest thing from a red neck. He was into the arts and exceptionally open-minded and fair. In fact, he used to take us skiing, and all of the trips were fun even if the teenage version of Mike and I thought it was weird to listen to country music all the way to the ski resort and back.

He married a wonderful, smart, and compassionate woman in Mrs. Boles, raised a smart, beautiful, well-spoken and well-read daughter in Julie Boles, and his son, Mike Boles, was and still is my best friend of all time. Mike got his gentleness, kindness, and sense of humor from his dad. If anyone could have made it as a comedian, it would have been Mike. I attribute Mike's sense of humor to his father who always had the funniest one liners at the perfect time. Sometimes Mr. Boles would sit through movies Mike and I picked and just poke fun of the movie in a way that would make you laugh to tears. Once Mike picked up the 1984 'hit movie' Hotdog (in hindsight it was a horrible, no plot movie). Mr. Boles watched it with us, and there as a random scene in which, you see this truck driving on an empty, bare mountain highway. Mr. Boles quipped, "I wonder if the producer of this movie had a truck, and wanted to find a way to put his truck in this movie"

Whenever I hear the song "Always be Humble and Kind", I think of Mike and Mr. Boles. Now, I want to apply that more in my life thanks to Mr. Boles and his prodigy son Mike Boles. I have only met his grandkids a few times but they are simply amazing. With a sample size of one or two, you can see Mr. Boles's spirit in their souls. That is probably the highest honor a grandfather can bestow to his grandkids.

As an old Irish blessing explains the passing of a loved one.....

I could not stay another day,
To love, to laugh, to work, to play
Tasks left undone must stay that way.
And if my parting has left a void.
Then fill them with remembered joy......

I wish there were magic words I could say to take away the pain form the Boles family losing someone so close to them. Mr. Boles was definitely a venerable man who played an integral and loving role in their lives. Yet, there are no magic words I can bestow. To quote an old song, "It is hard living life on this memory-go-round, always up, always down, Turn round, and round and round....And all this could be just a dream so it seems, I was never much good at goodbye....

Goodbye Mr. Boles. It was an honor to grow up with you.




Love,

Eric Riley