Dan Bolden

Dan Bolden

A life very well lived - ended December 28th -- with the passing of Dan Bolden. He was 70 years old

The life of Dannie L. Bolden can best be viewed in three stages - the first, when he spent most of his time on the basketball court - the second, and longest stretch, was spent in leadership roles in the Michigan Department of Corrections - and the final stage, spent concentrating on his role as husband and father.

Dan, born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, is acclaimed as one of the greatest athletes produced in that city.  He was very good at most sports, but excelled on the basketball court.  He attended his hometown college, Missouri State University (MSU), and became one of the best basketball players in the nation…leading MSU to the Division II national championship game in 1967.  That year he was named an All-American.  And because of his exploits, was inducted into both the MSU and Springfield area Halls of Fame.

In stage two - Dan embarked on a career with the Michigan Department of Corrections a few years after college.  He rose rapidly through the ranks - beginning as a corrections officer, a counselor, a deputy Warden and then Warden of the Kinross prison complex near Sault Saint Marie. He was called back across the Mackinaw bridge to the MDOC's central office as the agency's Deputy Director for Correctional facilities.  As such, he was directly responsible for Michigan's prisons and prison camps.  He oversaw a period of explosive growth in the state's prison population - from fewer than 10-thousand prisoners in 1984, to nearly 50-thousand by the time of his retirement in 2002. His innovative, resourceful, fair-but-firm management of Michigan's prisons, won him national acclaim.

Dan spent his remaining years at home with his wife, Betteye, to whom he was married 45-years, and their son, Dannie II.  Like his dad, "Little Dan" became an accomplished, multi-sport athlete.  Nothing gave "Big Dan" more pleasure than watching his son on the track, on the basketball court, and on the football field.

There are many friends and family members left behind to cherish the memory of Dan Bolden - but none so much as the love of his lifelong devoted wife, Betteye, their son Dannie II, his daughter Tamara (by his first marriage to Marilyn Nash) and her husband Erick Green I, along with 4 grandchildren -- Erick II, Courtni, Madison, and Aaliyah Green.

A memorial reception to celebrate the life of Dan L. Bolden will take place on Friday, January 8, 2016, from noon to 3:00 PM at Central United Methodist Church, 215 N. Capitol Avenue, in downtown Lansing.  A brief, formal program of fond remembrances of Dan will begin at 12:30 PM. Contributions in honor of Dan L. Bolden can be made to the American Cancer Society.