Three Sisters

Greed, Betrayal and Forgiveness

My grandmother, Evelyn Clause Bolen, died just prior to my 9th birthday, setting off a chain of events that would dominate the next five years. As the only child remaining at home, I accompanied my parents on frequent visits with attorneys, friends, family and business associates where these events were the sole topic of discussion.

I clearly remember the telephone ringing that February evening in 1965.  Mom answered, then sat down and began to cry. Her mother, Evelyn, had died in the hospital after collapsing in her Clearwater, Florida winter home.

Everything was about to change.

Mom was the second of four girls born to Roswell and Evelyn Bolen. Dorothy was the oldest, then Gladys, Ruth(who died in childhood) and Lois.  Loud, opinionated and funny, Dorothy adored her father and once told me that, as a child, she loved riding along with him on weekend service calls for his fledgling fire protection business. Both Dorothy and Lois, however, may have felt that Roswell favored Gladys.

After high school, Gladys entered nursing school at Overlook Hospital where she met a young orderly, Donald Mundwiler. Dad had moved to Summit, New Jersey soon after his high school graduation, following his Aunt Mae.

Gladys and Donald were married in 1941. Though blind in one eye and father of a young child, Donald was drafted into the Army in 1946.  Following his discharge, he went to work for Roswell at Approved Fire Protection, the only husband of the sisters to do so.

Roswell died in 1957 two days before his 59th birthday. His will bequeathed $2,500 to each of his daughters. He also left 10 shares of Approved Fire Protection stock each to Donald and Anker Goldman, a senior employee of the company, and 20 shares to Dorothy. The remainder of his estate went to Evelyn.

By 1965 Dad was General Manager at Approved Fire Protection, having worked his way up through service and sales. And Mom and Dad had recently bought their dream home in Watchung, a house large enough to provide a small suite for Evelyn's summer use.

Mom continued to have a close relationship with Dorothy and Lois. We visited both often, especially Lois.  But Dorothy and Lois were not on speaking terms and had not been for years.

Soon after that phone call, Mom and Lois flew to Clearwater.  Dorothy was already there as she and her second husband, Jack, had retired to New Port Richey.

A few days later, Dad and I picked up Mom at the airport. "Funny thing", Mom said. Dorothy and Lois, once bitter enemies, were now best friends.  They were inseparable the entire time in Florida.

Soon after, the sisters met with Evelyn's attorney for a reading of the will. Mom was named executrix, as Evelyn was well aware of the feud between Dorothy and Lois.  The estate was to be divided equally among the sisters, including 900 shares of stock in Approved Fire Protection.  But Mom was to inherit Evelyn's wedding ring, an elaborate one with three large diamonds surrounded by smaller ones.

Mom returned to Clearwater to accompany her mother's body on the flight back to New Jersey.

Dad came home early the next day and took me to his favorite restaurant, Opdykes, across Route 22 from Approved Fire.  We were surprised when Lois' husband Leo and cousin Norman approached our table. Leo asked what we were up to. Dad told them he planned to take me to a toy store after dinner for a birthday present.  Leo and Norman left and Dad and I enjoyed our meal and a trip to the toy store.

We returned home to find that Evelyn's suite had been emptied of the most valuable furniture and belongings.  How this was accomplished is still a mystery. I suspect that Lois might have taken Evelyn's key from her home in Clearwater.

But that was only the beginning.

After Evelyn's viewing, Dorothy met privately with the funeral director and personally removed the wedding ring from Evelyn's finger. She kept it.

Neither Dorothy nor Lois would now speak to Mom, and she was devastated.

Mom and Dad knew what was coming next. They sold their dream house that summer and moved to a rental house in Dunellen.

The annual meeting of Stockholders of the BO-LEN Corporation, which operated as Approved Fire Protection, was held on December 21, 1965.  Mom and Dad were represented by their attorney.

The 1000 shares of stock issued by the corporation were held primarily by the sisters:

    Dorothy          338
   Gladys           320
   Lois             310
   Anker Goldman     20    (valued employee)
   Donald            10
   Henry Sonheim      2    (board president)
   Alexander Milne    1    (former board president)
                   ----
                   1000

When the time came to install a new Board of Directors, Dorothy and Lois joined forces to vote in themselves, their husbands and Dorothy's son, Bobby Niper. Anker Goldman voted with them, presumably to save his job.

Their first order of business was to fire Dad.

Dorothy was in full control of the company, and turned it over to Bobby.

Mom had inherited one-third of the property on Route 22 that was leased to the corporation. But as a minority share holder, she would have no say in the terms of that lease or of the declaration of dividends by the corporation.

Mom and Dad's attorney was able to negotiate the sale of Mom's interest in the property and their 330 shares of stock to Dorothy and Lois for the sum total of $23,000.  But, Dad had to agree not to compete with Approved Fire in any way for a period of ten years. It would take more than a year to finally receive that payment.

Meanwhile, Dad's good friend, Bruce Wilson, whom he had met in the hospital after Dwight's birth, convinced Mom and Dad that Houston, Texas was the place to be.  Bruce had moved there several years prior and was enthralled with the city.

In May 1966, we packed up and moved to Houston, sight unseen. We stayed in a motel for two weeks while Dad sought employment and looked for a place to live. After renting a house in town for a year, we finally settled in Crosby, where they built a new house.

Nearly a year later, a package arrived in the mail. It contained Evelyn's wedding ring. The ring had been twisted and mangled as if someone had tried to remove the stones. Mom had a the stones re-set into a necklace and earrings.

Around this time, we also learned that Dorothy, now the majority shareholder, had forced Lois and Anker Goldman out of the corporation.

In the summer of 1976, Mom and Dad met their good friends, Gene and Helen Day, for a Florida vacation.  They had a wonderful time and, on a whim, decided to drive to New Port Richey to visit Dorothy.

Imagine my surprise when they returned home. Not only had they visited Dorothy, they had forgiven her. And they bought the house across the street from hers for their retirement. They were moving to Florida.

Wow.

Dad confided in me later that he wasn't thrilled about the decision, but he accepted it, as it was important to Mom. And he and Dorothy actually became friends. His only regret, he once told me, was that it should have been Dwight, not Bobby, to inherit Approved Fire Protection.

I don't believe that either Mom or Dorothy ever spoke to Lois again.