Williston carpenter remembered for family, outdoor life, and breakfast cooking

James “Jamie” McArthur Bolen Sr., 37, left behind the kind of memory that local families recognize quickly: a self-employed carpenter who worked hard, loved the outdoors, and showed care in the small ritual of cooking breakfast for the people he loved. He died Sunday, April 12, 2026, and his life was remembered in a service at Folk Funeral Home Chapel in Williston.

Bolen was born in Bamberg County, a detail that matters in a region where family ties stretch across county lines and never stay neatly inside one map boundary. Bamberg County was part of Barnwell County until 1897, and Williston, in Barnwell County, grew along the Charleston-to-Hamburg railroad corridor in the 1800s. In a county of 13,311 people and a town of 2,895, that shared rural history still shapes how neighbors know one another and how loss travels from one community to the next.

His family network was wide and deeply rooted. He was the son of Paula Lorene Morris Roelle and the late Michael Alan Bolen Sr., and he was raised by Paula and Brock Poe. He is survived by his son, James McArthur Bolen Jr.; his daughter, Epley Grace Bolen; sisters Misty and Tia; brothers Michael Bolen, Christopher Poe, Brock Poe, Rodney Poe, Troy Poe and Derrick Poe; maternal grandparents Linda and the late L.M. Morris; and paternal grandparents Wanda and the late James Henry Bolen. He was preceded in death by his brother Wesley Poe.

The service for Bolen was held Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 3 p.m. at Folk Funeral Home Chapel in Williston. The Reverend Charles Morris officiated, and burial followed at Williston Cemetery. Pallbearers were Michael Bolen, Christopher Poe, Layton Morris, Ricky Morris, Ronnie Allen, Hunter Bolen, Chance McGowan and Jonathan Morris.

Bolen’s obituary described him as a man who found joy in simple, steady parts of life: hunting, fishing, riding four-wheelers, working in the yard and gardening. For neighbors who knew him as a carpenter and for family who knew him at the stove, the picture that remains is of a working man whose care showed up in practical ways, especially at breakfast and in the daily work of home.