Arinetta Marie Bolton

Arinetta Marie Bolton, passed away on April 12, 2024. Her long-time goal was to live to the century mark but the Lord decided he needed her at age 91. She was born on November 19, 1932, in Mitchell, Kansas, and grew up on the family farm with her parents, Mary and Virgil Bolton and her younger sister, Virgie Ione. She was the boy that they didn’t have and worked the farm alongside her Dad as she was growing up. She graduated from Lyons High School and attended K-State and Emporia State University where she graduated with a teaching certificate. She taught school in several locations during her teaching career. While in High School, she participated in the 4-H Extension student ambassador program and spent one summer with a family in England. She talked a lot about that experience. She spent several summers at 4-H camp at Rock Springs and one memorable experience she always talked about was the baby opossum crawling into her sleeping bag. Her Dad was an avid coon hunter and Arinetta followed many a coon hound. He was also a fisherman who occasionally used his hands to catch big flatheads on the Smoky Hill River – she was often the lookout for the game warden. Arinetta had no staunch church affiliation, but she participated and led many a bible study throughout her lifetime. She read the bible religiously and could quote scripture with the best of them. She could also argue for or against anything that she didn’t see eye to eye with. She made friends with almost everyone she met and was loved by many. She spent her final years in Johnstown Towers Apartments in Salina and in the Pinnacle Park Nursing Home where bingo was her favorite pastime. She was preceded in death by both her parents; and her sister, Ione. She is survived by one nephew, Jim Konda (Cindy) of Dodge City, KS; five nieces, Theresa Berger (Tommie) of Sylvan Grove, KS, Karen Herington of Dodge City, KS, Leslie Ring (David) of Medicine Lodge, KS, Dianna Polkinghorn (Devlin) of Dodge City, KS and Naoma Barnes (Kent) of Topeka, KS, all of whom she considered her own children. She also leaves great nephews, Kyle, Daniel, Bryan, Luke, and Fritz; great-nieces, Mindy, Jessica, and Rachel; great-great-nephew, Brendon; great-great-niece, Celeste; a few cousins; and many friends. A graveside service will be held at 2:30 P.M., Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Lyons Municipal Cemetery, Lyons, with Father Michael Brungardt officiating. A visitation will be from 1:00 until 2:00 P.M., Saturday, April 20, 2024, at Birzer Funeral Home, Lyons, with family present. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to Outdoor Adventure Camp, Rock Springs, in care of Birzer Funeral Home, Lyons.

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