BOULDER — Ambassador Dave Bolen, the College of Colorado’s first Olympian who went on to have superb profession of accomplishments outdoors of the sports activities enviornment, handed away in Scottsdale, Ariz., on December 10; he was two weeks shy of his 99th birthday.
A “International Celebration of Life and Legacy on behalf His Excellency Ambassador David B. Bolen Sr.,” was held concurrently all over the world in commemoration of his good life and illustrious profession on Friday, Dec. 23, on what would have been the Ambassador’s 99th birthday.
In Germany, the primary Celebration of Life occasion was held on his behalf in a captivating fortress situated on the Weser river close to Bremen. The fortress is a World Heritage website which was constructed within the 1300’s. It was from right here that 160 friends wished the Ambassador easy crusing to the New World. In Scottsdale, Ariz., the celebration was held on the Atria Sierra Pointe Luxurious Senior Dwelling together with his very close-knit neighborhood the place the Ambassador spent the final decade of his life. A grand memorial service can be deliberate within the close to future.
“My father all the time mentioned that it was essential to dream massive after which have the self-confidence to achieve these targets,” his daughter Cynthia Bolen-Nieland mentioned. “He mastered all of life’s challenges with unflinching bravery, drive and willpower. He was really a fully exceptional human being. ‘Being and Olympian and an Ambassador are names that no person can ever take from him,’ he advised me.”
“He beloved the humanities, classical music, energetic discussions, veggie delicacies, sports activities, pure life-style medication, astronomy and his thoughts was all the time trying to find the that means behind the unseen,” she added. “He was kind of a clairvoyant in that he had a eager sense of premonition principally with utmost accuracy and precision. He beloved range of cultures and all the time inspired us to study a brand new language, get to know the tradition the place we had been, and discover the native delicacies. Even till his final hours, he loved training his German together with his son in regulation, Udo, an excellent CPA in Germany.”
“I had the privilege of spending time with Ambassador Bolen on a number of events,” CU athletic director Rick George mentioned. “A real icon, he was nearly bigger than life. He had so many fascinating tales to inform from how he arrived at CU by way of his years representing the nation. He was capable of return to Boulder six years in the past and soaked up every little thing his might about his alma mater and the city as nicely. It was all the time a pleasure to go to with him.”
Former CU athletic director Invoice Marolt attended the Scottsdale occasion. In 1964, Marolt, a member of the U.S. Olympic ski workforce, was one of many first recipients of the “Bolen Award,” offered to CU college students who take part in a Summer season or Winter Olympics.
Ambassador David Benjamin Bolen was born in Heflin, La., on Dec. 23, 1923 and was raised in Grambling, La., after his father was named the city’s postmaster. He enrolled at Southern College in 1941, and attended faculty there till June, 1943, when he joined the Military Air Drive. He was discharged as a sergeant in 1946, and enrolled on the College of Colorado within the faculty of enterprise in July of that very same yr.
As a member of CU’s monitor workforce, he was unbeaten throughout the 1947 season and was the 440- and 880-yard run champion of the Mountain States Convention (also referred to as the Huge Seven). He additionally anchored CU’s undefeated mile relay workforce. His greatest time within the 440 was a 46.6 effort on the 1947 NCAA Championships, as he completed second behind Herb McKenley of Illinois. These performances led him to change into a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic Workforce, the primary CU athlete to ever make an Olympic squad. He completed fourth within the 400-meter run on the London video games, and his greatest time within the occasion was 48.6 seconds, which he achieved within the Olympic trials.
Bolen later in life mentioned, “The Olympics will not be one thing you practice for. It’s important to have expertise, world-class expertise. It’s important to use that expertise for the good thing about your self and others.” Bolen first found that he had that expertise when he raced different youngsters throughout an Easter egg hunt throughout his childhood and located that he was sooner. He later determined he needed to make use of his “foot pace” to achieve a school schooling.
In 1949, Bolen gained the 600-meter occasion within the Nationwide AAU Championships in a 1:11.6 time. He additionally gained that very same occasion in 1948 with a 1:11.8 time. The recipient of the Robert Russell Memorial Award after his return from the Olympics, as was chosen because the Most Excellent Athlete within the Rocky Mountain Space for 1948. He represented america on 4 events as a member of the AAU All-Star workforce that competed in each Japanese and Western Europe.
He graduated from the College of Colorado in 1950 (B.S. & M.S., Enterprise). Upon his commencement from the CU, he was appointed a international service officer in america Consular Service. He was first assigned to the American Embassy in Monrovia. He was then stationed in Karachi, Pakistan, the place he additionally coached monitor on the College of Karachi and labored with the Pakistan Olympic Affiliation. He returned to Washington as was detailed to the Division of Commerce as a global economist. He later turned desk officer for Afghanistan affairs within the State Division.
Bolen studied superior economics at Harvard throughout 1959-60 tutorial yr, incomes a grasp’s diploma in public administration. In 1960, he was assigned to Accra, Ghana, as head of the financial part within the American embassy. He additionally volunteered as a monitor coach for the younger athletes of Ghana. In 1962, he returned to the Washington to function employees assistant to the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
In 1964, he was named officer accountable for Nigerian Affairs within the Bureau of African Affairs. Throughout this time, he accompanied the assistant secretary on two journeys to Africa, overlaying greater than 20 nations and together with assembly with a dozen heads of state or authorities. He spent the 1966-67 tutorial yr on the Nationwide Battle School in Washington for senior coaching in international affairs.
He served 5 years, 1967-72, within the American embassy in Bonn, Germany, first as financial officer and later as financial counselor. In 1972, he turned an financial and business counselor within the American embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In 1974, he was named U.S. Ambassador to the South African nations of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland; President Richard M. Nixon nominated him for the submit.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter named him because the ambassador to East Germany, the primary African-American to function ambassador to a nation behind the Iron Curtain (he served till 1980). Whereas in that function, the fluent in German Bolen helped to put the groundwork for the destruction of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, the day the wall got here down, Bolen’s daughter, Cynthia, was photographed handing a long-stemmed rose to an East German border guard standing atop the wall (it was named among the finest eight photos on the planet that yr).
Bolen additionally labored to assist free Nelson Mandela from jail.
He was a recipient of the George Norlin Award in 1969, the very best alumni honor of the College of Colorado, and was named to the College’s “Corridor of Honor” that very same yr as an alumnus who attained distinguished achievements in his discipline and introduced honor to himself and his alma mater. In 2000, he was a member of the third class to be induced into the College of Colorado Athletic Corridor of Fame, and in 2013, he was honored with the Leeds College of Enterprise Distinguished Alumni and Service Award.
Ambassador Bolen learn Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg deal with many occasions together with his eldest daughter, Cynthia throughout his final days and hours. Amongst his many achievements and awards, he will probably be remembered for his management in making ready the autumn of the Berlin Wall and dismantling apartheid in South Africa. Everywhere the place he was despatched, he served with the utmost integrity, precision and effectiveness to result in freedom, democracy and peace for each particular person.
“He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth however developed together with his wealth of God-given abilities of unimaginable pace, clear pondering, and the power to resolve issues with nice precision,” mentioned Bolen-Nieland, who’s a International Ambassador for CU’s Leeds College of Enterprise. “Throughout his research at Harvard, they nicknamed him, ‘The Streak.'”
The Ambassador is survived by three youngsters, Cynthia, Myra and David, Jr., two granddaughters, Lauren and Monica. He was preceded in demise by his spouse, the previous Elizabeth “Betty” Gayden, additionally a 1950 CU graduate; she handed in 2009 shortly earlier than their sixtieth marriage ceremony anniversary. As a proficient artist in her personal proper who studied with the well-known German artist Max Beckmann (who fled Germany to show younger artists within the U.S.), she lent a particular aptitude of creativity and brilliance to all the diplomatic posts the place the couple had been assigned.
Throughout the Celebration on the event of his 99th birthday, Cynthia learn pertinent passages from his memoirs, Working Down a Dream, which he accomplished in 2016. Ambassador Bolen will even be remembered for his wit, humor and respect for human life on earth. His presence purchased depth and richness to all who had the consideration to know him.
“It’s important for every of you to comprehend that all of us have our personal items and skills and mine occurred to be working,” Bolen wrote in his memoir. “Because the quickest American in beginner collegiate competitors on the time this expertise of mine opened doorways for me that I might have in any other case been unable to cross by way of. Every of one can find that life will do the identical for you for those who consider in your self, as I did and all the time observe your desires.
“You are able to do rather a lot in life, however do something it is essential so that you can consider in your self and have a dream that you simply by no means let anybody take from you. In the event you consider in your self and face down any adversities that come your means, you’ll ultimately understand your targets and desires. Could the Good Lord bless each one among you.”
A “International Celebration of Life and Legacy on behalf His Excellency Ambassador David B. Bolen Sr.,” was held concurrently all over the world in commemoration of his good life and illustrious profession on Friday, Dec. 23, on what would have been the Ambassador’s 99th birthday.
In Germany, the primary Celebration of Life occasion was held on his behalf in a captivating fortress situated on the Weser river close to Bremen. The fortress is a World Heritage website which was constructed within the 1300’s. It was from right here that 160 friends wished the Ambassador easy crusing to the New World. In Scottsdale, Ariz., the celebration was held on the Atria Sierra Pointe Luxurious Senior Dwelling together with his very close-knit neighborhood the place the Ambassador spent the final decade of his life. A grand memorial service can be deliberate within the close to future.
“My father all the time mentioned that it was essential to dream massive after which have the self-confidence to achieve these targets,” his daughter Cynthia Bolen-Nieland mentioned. “He mastered all of life’s challenges with unflinching bravery, drive and willpower. He was really a fully exceptional human being. ‘Being and Olympian and an Ambassador are names that no person can ever take from him,’ he advised me.”
“He beloved the humanities, classical music, energetic discussions, veggie delicacies, sports activities, pure life-style medication, astronomy and his thoughts was all the time trying to find the that means behind the unseen,” she added. “He was kind of a clairvoyant in that he had a eager sense of premonition principally with utmost accuracy and precision. He beloved range of cultures and all the time inspired us to study a brand new language, get to know the tradition the place we had been, and discover the native delicacies. Even till his final hours, he loved training his German together with his son in regulation, Udo, an excellent CPA in Germany.”
“I had the privilege of spending time with Ambassador Bolen on a number of events,” CU athletic director Rick George mentioned. “A real icon, he was nearly bigger than life. He had so many fascinating tales to inform from how he arrived at CU by way of his years representing the nation. He was capable of return to Boulder six years in the past and soaked up every little thing his might about his alma mater and the city as nicely. It was all the time a pleasure to go to with him.”
Former CU athletic director Invoice Marolt attended the Scottsdale occasion. In 1964, Marolt, a member of the U.S. Olympic ski workforce, was one of many first recipients of the “Bolen Award,” offered to CU college students who take part in a Summer season or Winter Olympics.
Ambassador David Benjamin Bolen was born in Heflin, La., on Dec. 23, 1923 and was raised in Grambling, La., after his father was named the city’s postmaster. He enrolled at Southern College in 1941, and attended faculty there till June, 1943, when he joined the Military Air Drive. He was discharged as a sergeant in 1946, and enrolled on the College of Colorado within the faculty of enterprise in July of that very same yr.
As a member of CU’s monitor workforce, he was unbeaten throughout the 1947 season and was the 440- and 880-yard run champion of the Mountain States Convention (also referred to as the Huge Seven). He additionally anchored CU’s undefeated mile relay workforce. His greatest time within the 440 was a 46.6 effort on the 1947 NCAA Championships, as he completed second behind Herb McKenley of Illinois. These performances led him to change into a member of the 1948 U.S. Olympic Workforce, the primary CU athlete to ever make an Olympic squad. He completed fourth within the 400-meter run on the London video games, and his greatest time within the occasion was 48.6 seconds, which he achieved within the Olympic trials.
Bolen later in life mentioned, “The Olympics will not be one thing you practice for. It’s important to have expertise, world-class expertise. It’s important to use that expertise for the good thing about your self and others.” Bolen first found that he had that expertise when he raced different youngsters throughout an Easter egg hunt throughout his childhood and located that he was sooner. He later determined he needed to make use of his “foot pace” to achieve a school schooling.
In 1949, Bolen gained the 600-meter occasion within the Nationwide AAU Championships in a 1:11.6 time. He additionally gained that very same occasion in 1948 with a 1:11.8 time. The recipient of the Robert Russell Memorial Award after his return from the Olympics, as was chosen because the Most Excellent Athlete within the Rocky Mountain Space for 1948. He represented america on 4 events as a member of the AAU All-Star workforce that competed in each Japanese and Western Europe.
He graduated from the College of Colorado in 1950 (B.S. & M.S., Enterprise). Upon his commencement from the CU, he was appointed a international service officer in america Consular Service. He was first assigned to the American Embassy in Monrovia. He was then stationed in Karachi, Pakistan, the place he additionally coached monitor on the College of Karachi and labored with the Pakistan Olympic Affiliation. He returned to Washington as was detailed to the Division of Commerce as a global economist. He later turned desk officer for Afghanistan affairs within the State Division.
Bolen studied superior economics at Harvard throughout 1959-60 tutorial yr, incomes a grasp’s diploma in public administration. In 1960, he was assigned to Accra, Ghana, as head of the financial part within the American embassy. He additionally volunteered as a monitor coach for the younger athletes of Ghana. In 1962, he returned to the Washington to function employees assistant to the assistant secretary of state for African affairs.
In 1964, he was named officer accountable for Nigerian Affairs within the Bureau of African Affairs. Throughout this time, he accompanied the assistant secretary on two journeys to Africa, overlaying greater than 20 nations and together with assembly with a dozen heads of state or authorities. He spent the 1966-67 tutorial yr on the Nationwide Battle School in Washington for senior coaching in international affairs.
He served 5 years, 1967-72, within the American embassy in Bonn, Germany, first as financial officer and later as financial counselor. In 1972, he turned an financial and business counselor within the American embassy in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. In 1974, he was named U.S. Ambassador to the South African nations of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland; President Richard M. Nixon nominated him for the submit.
In 1977, President Jimmy Carter named him because the ambassador to East Germany, the primary African-American to function ambassador to a nation behind the Iron Curtain (he served till 1980). Whereas in that function, the fluent in German Bolen helped to put the groundwork for the destruction of the Berlin Wall. On November 9, 1989, the day the wall got here down, Bolen’s daughter, Cynthia, was photographed handing a long-stemmed rose to an East German border guard standing atop the wall (it was named among the finest eight photos on the planet that yr).
Bolen additionally labored to assist free Nelson Mandela from jail.
He was a recipient of the George Norlin Award in 1969, the very best alumni honor of the College of Colorado, and was named to the College’s “Corridor of Honor” that very same yr as an alumnus who attained distinguished achievements in his discipline and introduced honor to himself and his alma mater. In 2000, he was a member of the third class to be induced into the College of Colorado Athletic Corridor of Fame, and in 2013, he was honored with the Leeds College of Enterprise Distinguished Alumni and Service Award.
Ambassador Bolen learn Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg deal with many occasions together with his eldest daughter, Cynthia throughout his final days and hours. Amongst his many achievements and awards, he will probably be remembered for his management in making ready the autumn of the Berlin Wall and dismantling apartheid in South Africa. Everywhere the place he was despatched, he served with the utmost integrity, precision and effectiveness to result in freedom, democracy and peace for each particular person.
“He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth however developed together with his wealth of God-given abilities of unimaginable pace, clear pondering, and the power to resolve issues with nice precision,” mentioned Bolen-Nieland, who’s a International Ambassador for CU’s Leeds College of Enterprise. “Throughout his research at Harvard, they nicknamed him, ‘The Streak.'”
The Ambassador is survived by three youngsters, Cynthia, Myra and David, Jr., two granddaughters, Lauren and Monica. He was preceded in demise by his spouse, the previous Elizabeth “Betty” Gayden, additionally a 1950 CU graduate; she handed in 2009 shortly earlier than their sixtieth marriage ceremony anniversary. As a proficient artist in her personal proper who studied with the well-known German artist Max Beckmann (who fled Germany to show younger artists within the U.S.), she lent a particular aptitude of creativity and brilliance to all the diplomatic posts the place the couple had been assigned.
Throughout the Celebration on the event of his 99th birthday, Cynthia learn pertinent passages from his memoirs, Working Down a Dream, which he accomplished in 2016. Ambassador Bolen will even be remembered for his wit, humor and respect for human life on earth. His presence purchased depth and richness to all who had the consideration to know him.
“It’s important for every of you to comprehend that all of us have our personal items and skills and mine occurred to be working,” Bolen wrote in his memoir. “Because the quickest American in beginner collegiate competitors on the time this expertise of mine opened doorways for me that I might have in any other case been unable to cross by way of. Every of one can find that life will do the identical for you for those who consider in your self, as I did and all the time observe your desires.
“You are able to do rather a lot in life, however do something it is essential so that you can consider in your self and have a dream that you simply by no means let anybody take from you. In the event you consider in your self and face down any adversities that come your means, you’ll ultimately understand your targets and desires. Could the Good Lord bless each one among you.”
