Ollie John Bolner, owner of Ollie’s Moving of Nederland, died on Monday, February 13, at his home, surrounded by his family. The son of Albert John Bolner and Almeda Firmin Bolner, Ollie was born on April 12, 1921, in rural Avoyelles Parish, LA. As a youth he worked alongside his parents and siblings in farming and at an early age he moved to Abbeville, LA, where he worked in a retail store and other enterprises in order to help support his parents and younger siblings. At age seventeen, he enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps and worked on public works projects in Louisiana, California, and Oregon. Upon reaching the age of eligibility he joined the U.S. Navy, where he served for 20 years, retiring in 1962 with the rating of Chief Boatswain’s Mate. He saw service in the Pacific during World War II and later in the Korean War. While still in the navy, he married Amy Roche Mouton, and became a father to her two young sons. His service assignments took him and his family to various places across the U.S.: San Pedro, Norfolk, Seattle, and finally back home to Lafayette, LA. After his retirement from the Navy, he and his family moved to Los Angeles. Later he and Amy relocated in Nederland, TX, where he began his moving business.
Ollie liked to say that he had moved “just about everyone at least once” in the Nederland-Port Arthur area. Ollie was a fixture in the community, not just for his big moving truck, but for his friendliness, ready wit, and generosity. Always the story-teller, his memories of life in Louisiana during the high water and the Great Depression, adventures of a young man far from home in the CCC camps, and tales of a sailor in the service of his country endeared him to his extended family and many friends.
He is survived by his two sons, Dr. John Mouton, of Sugar Land, and Ralph Mouton, of Nederland; daughter-in-law, Carole Mouton, of Sugar Land; three grandsons, Jeremy Mouton, of Houston, Ian Mouton, of Austin, and André Mouton, of New Orleans; granddaughter, Linda Mouton Morvant, of Denver, CO, and her husband, Kenneth Troy Morvant; a brother, James Bolner, Sr., of Baton Rouge, LA, and a sister, Verdie Bolner Haydel, of Franklin, LA; two great-grandchildren, Corbin and K. T. Morvant; and innumerable nieces and nephews. Ollie was preceded in death by his wife, Amy, his parents, brothers Kelsie, Henry, Daniel, Richard, and Dale Bolner, and sister Zulie Bolner Luke.
Visitation will be at Broussard Mortuary in Nederland Saturday, February 18, from 5 to 8 PM. Funeral Services will be on Sunday, Feb. 19, at Martin & Castille Funeral Home in Lafayette, LA, with visitation from 10 AM to 2 PM, and services at 2 PM, followed by interment at Greenlawn Memorial Gardens. Pallbearers will be Jeremy Mouton, Ian Mouton, André Mouton, John Mouton, Kenneth Troy Morvant, and Curtis Branch.
The family wishes to express its deep gratitude to their hospice care-giver, Odyssey HealthCare of Beaumont, for the skilled, compassionate, and dedicated support their staff rendered to Mr. Bolner and his family.
