Kenneth Walter Bolinger

Kenneth Walter Bolinger, lately a resident of House of Three in Bella Vista, passed away February 3 after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia. Ken was born April 13, 1939, in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Walter and Willeta Raley Bolinger, who were there as teaching missionaries for the Seventh Day Adventist Church. He spent most of his life in California. From 1958-1964 he was married to Ivalee C. Haunani Henry, a marriage that produced three sons, Lance, Kent and Keith. Ken worked his way up to branch manager at Budget Finance, and then went back to college. He graduated from Pacific Union College in Angwin, Calif., in 1969 and went on to law school at U.C. Hastings in San Francisco. Upon graduation and passing the Bar, Ken opened a private practice, initially representing collection agencies and insurance companies and eventually narrowing the scope of his practice to insurance subrogation. He maintained offices in northern and southern California and appeared at trial in every municipal and superior court in the state over the course of 35 years. For a few years, Ken was also a partner in a company that designed and sold collection agency software bundled with early desk-top computers. In his second year of law school, Ken met Myra Sue Potter at a small law office where they both worked. They were married in 1974, and welcomed another son, Stephen, the following year. Myra went on to work in Ken's offices, an arrangement that made it easy for them to plan long vacations together. Over the course of their 45-year marriage, they traveled extensively in Britain and Europe and enjoyed a few long cruises to more exotic locales. Ken was not particularly athletic, but he was an avid basketball, horse racing and NASCAR fan. He loved going to live music concerts across all genres and was sustained and uplifted by old rock & roll and country music throughout his illness. Since 2010, Ken suffered from Parkinson's Disease and then Lewy Body Dementia. He and Myra moved to NW Arkansas in 2018, and he went into residential care the following year, first at Grand Brook Memory Care in Rogers, then into House of Three in Bella Vista, where he finally gave up the fight under the comforting care of Elite Hospice and the wonderful staff at House of Three. Ken was preceded in death by his son Keith in 1983; sister Hazel Marie; a few close friends; and Elvis and Merle. He is beloved and survived by his wives, Ivalee Henry and Myra (Potter) Bolinger; sons Walter Lance of Sacramento, Leonard Kent of Hilo, Hawaii, and Stephen Jarrard (& wife Kate) of Melbourne, Australia; grandchildren, Heather Hoopiilani (Bolinger) Burch of Ft. Worth, Fiona Jane, James Kenneth, and Caroline Maeve Bolinger of Melbourne; sister Betty (Bolinger) Stanfield of Sebastopol, Calif.; in-laws Wayne & Nancy Inglis of Bella Vista and Richard Potter of Chicago; several Raley and Bolinger cousins, many long-time dear friends, and Willie Nelson. The family would like to thank Elite Hospice and House of Three, especially Brandi Thurman, for their compassionate end-of-life care. Burial and a going away party for Ken will be held in Napa County, Calif., in March. In remembrance, please donate to your local Hospice agency or the Lewy Body Dementia Association, or just take someone you love out to hear some live music -- and sing along. For a more detailed description of Ken's life, please go to www.funeralmation.com.