Mary Bolton

Mary Peters Bolton, formerly of Cleveland, died Friday at her home in Palm Beach, Florida, following a stroke. She was 97 years old. She and her late husband Kenyon C. Bolton moved to Palm Beach in 1977, but she continued to maintain a house in Cleveland for many years.

Known for her grace, sense of style and gentle spirit, Mrs. Bolton was an accomplished hostess and devoted mother, well known in Cleveland social circles where she joined her husband in numerous philanthropic and cultural causes.

Mrs. Bolton married into a political family with early roots in Cleveland. Her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Frances and Chester Bolton, as well as her husband's brother Oliver, all served for extensive periods in Congress.

As one of the last remaining Boltons - albeit by marriage - of her generation, Mrs. Bolton felt a responsibility to pass on family history to inspire younger generations. In that role, she sparked production of a documentary on the life of Frances Bolton, one of the earliest female members of Congress. And she self-published several books celebrating the history of her family in Lancaster, Ohio, and her husband's family.

Mrs. Bolton and her siblings donated their family's historic Georgian-style house in Lancaster to help create the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio. The center today provides exhibitions, public programs, art classes and workshops that focus on Ohio arts.

A native of Lancaster, Ohio, Mrs. Bolton met her husband on a visit to Cleveland. They were married in 1940 and spent their early married years residing at several military posts before her husband was shipped overseas.

After the war, the Bolton family, with five small children, moved to Paris where Mr. Bolton worked for three years in the U.S.Embassy before they returned to Cleveland.

Thereafter, Mrs. Bolton, who was proficient in French, for years read several pages of French before going to sleep. In addition, she loved to play the piano. She took up tennis at the age of 50 and played until she turned 80 when she broke a hip on the tennis court. She spent her summers in Prouts Neck, Maine.

Before moving to Florida, Mrs. Bolton served as Ohio's vice regent to the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, which is dedicated to the preservation and restoration of George Washington's home in Virginia. She also served on the board of Cleveland's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital, was president for a time of the Garden Club of Cleveland and was active with the Cleveland Playhouse. In Palm Beach Mrs. Bolton served for many years on the board of The Society of the Four Arts.

Mrs. Bolton attended the Columbus (Ohio) School for Girls, Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT and Bryn Mawr College.

She is survived by a sister: Caroline Rockwood, five children: Tom of Asheville, N.C.: Tim of Cambridge, Mass.; Phil of Atlanta; John of Andover, Conn.; and Molly Hooper of San Francisco; as well as eight grandchildren, three great- grandchildren, nieces, nephews and cousins.

A funeral service celebrating her life will be held at St. Christopher's- By-the-River in Gates Mills at noon, Saturday, January 18.

The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in Lancaster.





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