Louis Davout Bolton II (“Nick”), a man of immense charm and wit who embodied joie de vivre for just shy of 100 years, died peacefully at home in Birmingham, Ala., on September 11, 2023. Born to Mary Legaré Reeves Bolton and John Gray Bolton on September 18, 1923 in Atlanta, Georgia, he was named for his ancestor, Louis-Nicolas Davout, famed Marshal in Napoleon’s army. Nick grew up in Social Circle and Covington, Georgia. He spent many formative summers at Camp Pasquaney on Newfound Lake, New Hampshire, and from then on, Pasquaney was never far from his thoughts.
Music was, from a young age, a central part of his life. He studied classical and jazz piano, clarinet and saxophone, and loved to sing. World War II broke out while he was a cadet at The Citadel in Charleston, SC, and as he said ruefully, “I traded in my clarinet for a gun.” Nick served in 412th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, (20th Armored Division) in Germany. While a member of the occupying force in Germany immediately following the war, a family invited him to have dinner in their home. Moments after they encouraged him to play their piano, the door opened to admit their son, in tattered Nazi uniform, who had just walked all the way home from the Russian front. Before the evening ended, the two sat down together to play a Mozart piano duet. In recounting the story, Nick acknowledged that “a few days earlier, we would have shot each other… yet here we were sharing a piano bench and playing Mozart.”
Nick completed his education at Emory University, graduating in 1949. He went to New York to begin a career, and (continuing his love of music) joined a Gilbert & Sullivan group, The Blue Hill Troupe. At a rehearsal, he left a beer backstage when it was his turn to be onstage. Upon returning, he found, as he said, “a gorgeous woman sipping my beer!” Thus began his romance with Barbara Howard Smith, whom he married in 1953 and which would continue until her death in 2019.
Nick and Barbara began their married life in Chicago, where he worked in advertising. His career in broadcasting was launched in Yankton, S.D., where he was sales manager for WNAX Radio. After a few years in Cincinnati at WKRC Radio, the family moved to Kansas City, where Nick became General Manager of WDAF Radio and Television. Next, WBRC Television (at that time, an ABC affiliate) beckoned, and Birmingham became home. Nick is still remembered for his editorials which he always ended by holding up six fingers and saying “This is a Channel 6 editorial opinion. What’s your opinion?”
During all those years, Nick continued to nurture his love of music. He and Barbara always sang in their church choirs, including the Choir of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Mountain Brook. Nick also served as choir director in Yankton and Kansas City (both churches were named Christ Episcopal Church). Endlessly creative, Nick composed anthems and service music for the church and short instrumental pieces for his children and grandchildren.
As anyone who knew him could attest, Nick lit up a room with his presence. He was a master storyteller, and his supply of tales from his long life was seemingly endless and always fascinating. He would burst into song at the drop of a hat, and in particular, his duets with his brother Jack, and the quartets sung with Barbara, Jack and his wife Iris were legendary. All five of his children were taught to sing in harmony and to play various instruments, and that legacy continued to his grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. He practiced piano essentially daily into his 100th year, and neighbors at his beloved second home in Silver Bay, NY relished hearing him practice clarinet on summer afternoons.
Left behind to cherish his memory and pass on his stories are his children, Louis D. Bolton III (Dave) of Birmingham; Elizabeth (Tibby) Christenberry (Robert) of Nashville; Victoria (Tori) Rice (Harry) of Moorestown, NJ; Katherine (Kit) Casey of Norwell, MA; James A. (Jim) Bolton (Ginny) of Birmingham, thirteen grandchildren and twelve great-grandchildren.
Service details will be announced at a later date.
Memorial gifts may be made to Camp Pasquaney (pasquaney.org), the Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks (silverbay.org), or The Cavalier Rescue (thecavalierrescue.org).