James Henry DeBolt

James Henry DeBolt of Barrington James Henry DeBolt, Barrington High School Class of 1928, age 96, died Thursday, Dec. 7, 2006, at Governor's Park in Barrington. A memorial service will be held at 11:30 a.m., Friday, Dec. 15, at the Barrington United Methodist Church, 98 Algonquin Road, South Barrington, IL 60010, where a reception will follow. Interment will be private in Evergreen Cemetery, Barrington. The current generation of Barringtonians will remember him best as the smiling, waving cowboy riding horseback in the annual Barrington High School Homecoming parades. He was known for his impeccable honesty, irreproachable work ethic, his innumerable captivating stories of life on the prairie, and a witty, dry sense of humor. He was born by midwife July 31, 1910, in the two-room shack of his parents' prairie homestead, 19 miles north of Presho, Lyman County, South Dakota, to the late James Henry and Jessie Gertrude Hall DeBolt. He literally walked a mile through snowdrifts to the one-room Cedar Creek School that he attended through the eighth grade. After the family moved to town he attended Presho High School and served as the secretary/treasurer for the Epworth Youth League of the Methodist Church. He worked various farming and ranching jobs before moving to Barrington with the family in 1927. He graduated the following year from Barrington High School with 18 fellow students, and began his slow, steady climb from those humble beginnings to become one of the most prominent and well-known citizens of the Village of Barrington. His first job following high school graduation was digging ditches for the telephone company, and as the smallest and youngest member of the crew, tunneling beneath the E.J. and E. railroad tracks to lay underground wires. He was then hired in 1928 by John Catlow for his gravel business, to keep the books and manage the office, and work as a welder and machinery repairman. On June 15, 1940, he wed Lillian May Shiley in the Barrington United Methodist Church. He met his sweetheart at McLeister's soda fountain, located where the Bread Basket is currently situated. In 1946, he took a job selling Sinclair gas station franchises, ultimately purchasing one of his own on the northwest corner of Routes 14 and 59 in 1948. At that time, Route 14 was a two-lane gravel road that served as the main thoroughfare between Chicago and the ski jump in Fox River Grove. He pumped gas, cleaned windshields and checked tires from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week for customers from "Indianapolis to Minneapolis." In 1965 he established DeBolt Tire Company, selling Goodyear tires first on Station Street, then later on Main Street, finally retiring in 1989 at the age of 79. Jim was a member of the Barrington Lions Club, and was their oldest and longest active regular member from 1945 until his death. He was awarded the Melvin Jones Fellow Award in 1990 for national service, served as club secretary from 1963 to 1967, and for fifteen years (1988-2003) led their "Recycle for Sight" program, earning the program third highest in the country in 2002. He served as a Barrington Park District Commissioner from 1952 to 1959, including a term as president; during his tenure the field house was reconstructed and the park named for Mr. Langendorf. He served as Village Trustee for the Village of Barrington from 1957 to 1963, including a brief stint as president, and was involved with the acquisition and construction of commuter parking lots. He served on the Board of Directors for the First Federal Savings and Loan (now Bank One) from 1955 to 1980. He was a member of Barrington United Methodist Church where he served as assistant treasurer, on the board of trustees, was honored with the title "Trustee Emeritus," and was the representative landlord and manager for church owned properties from 1983 to 1997. He was additionally on the planning committee for the founding and building of Harper College in Palatine, Illinois in 1965. In 2003, he was inducted into the Barrington Area council on Aging Senior Citizens Hall of Fame. In 2006, he celebrated 66 years of marriage, and 96 years of age. And of course, for 20 years, from 1985 to 2005, he made those memorable Homecoming parade rides to represent three generations of B.H.S. graduates, accompanying any number of his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his wife, Lillian; sister, Priscilla Fry of Williamsport, Pa.; children, Sylvia Donaldson of Madison, Wis., Carol Dalitsch of Barrington, Mary Sherman of Wauconda, Jane Dawson of Cary, Linda of Fox Lake, Jim of Wauconda, Martha Stephens of Princeton, Ill., and Marjie Sandstol of Round Lake Beach; 11 grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. He is further survived by nieces, nephews, other relatives and many friends. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by sisters, Mary, Blanche and Hazel; his brother, Mike; and a granddaughter, Heather Bryant. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Barrington United Methodist Church, or to Hospice of Northeastern Illinois, 410 S. Hager Avenue, Barrington, IL 60010. For information, call Davenport Family Funeral Home, Barrington, 847-381-3411 or the church at 847-836-5540.