hometown of Bellevue, Washington. His four-year battle with cancer exemplified his intelligence and
resilience in facing life’s challenges. He fought fiercely until the end.
Born in Bellevue on December 26, 1957, the fifth child of Leo and Margaret Bolles, David grew up in
Clyde Hill. In elementary school, he often brought friends home with him for lunch to lift the spirits of
his mother who was battling multiple sclerosis. These same friends still tell tales of mischievous
youthful exploits, and David, the bold mastermind.
After graduating from Bellevue High School, David studied Biology and Chemistry at University of
Puget Sound. He was a free thinker and a leader, a champion of the environment and the underdog. As president of the Environmental Awareness Club, he successfully lobbied for university-wide recycling. From his campus office, amidst a sea of empty coffee mugs, he petitioned Trustees to divest from South
Africa, and they did. One fateful afternoon while juggling in the student union building, he met Monica DeRaspe, who would become his lifelong partner. His dog Lola and her dog Lobo were soon inseparable, as were they. In early courtship, they wrote letters for Amnesty International, hosted spirited student discussions on philosophical and scientific conundrums at their Salmon Beach home, and kayaked the San Juan Islands. They also may have stolen and rehomed a few cats from the local kill shelter.
In 1983, David married Monica, and shortly thereafter, firstborn Jenny arrived. At a young age, newborn in tow, David and Monica endeavored to build a home in Duvall and a medical laboratory business in Bellevue. He worked tenaciously; David became adept on a tractor and proficient in selling medical laboratory services to doctors. They would soon welcome their second child, McKenzie. For more than a decade, they built Physician’s Clinical Laboratories into a thriving regional lab that was acquired by a
national lab in 1994.
David was not one to be idle and in 1997 he and Monica founded another business, Epoch Design, and had another child, their son Gabriel. David spent over two decades growing the company into a thriving small business that has employed dozens of individuals whom he regarded as family. In the office, he was known as an independent and creative mastermind with a generous spirit and an endearing lack of awareness, as he occasionally helped himself to other people’s lunches. The numerous patents held by
Epoch Design bear David’s name. Even as he battled cancer, he continued to inspire and lead his family in the success of the business.
Family business and family life were consummately intertwined for David. As lab owners, he and Monica traveled to the Soviet Union with medical associations and were in Leningrad when the Berlin Wall came down; David danced to the music of street musicians allowed to play for the first time. When launching the Mail Boss product, he enlisted his high school-aged daughter McKenzie to peddle mailboxes roadside at the Sammamish 7-11; he would debrief her over family dinner on best sales strategies. He brought his young son Gabriel to China to meet with long-time trade partners; they experienced white-knuckle tuk rides through the busy streets of Shanghai and trekked the Great Wall of China. He and his daughter Jenny traveled to countless trade shows together as the “A-Team”; they spent days landing new accounts and nights listening to jazz on Frenchmen Street and playing live poker.
David also enjoyed the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. He was an avid alpine skier, water skier, scuba diver and bird watcher. In recent years, he visited Africa and the Galapagos, but he especially appreciated the spectacular nature at his lakeside home in Sammamish. There, he enjoyed hosting friends and family, grilling, and making music; he made ice cream with trail-picked blackberries and a mean batch of refried beans. In the last few years of his life, he was finally blessed with four adoring grandchildren; forever, he will be remembered as "Bampa."
David’s family was everything to him. He never missed a gymnastic meet or lacrosse game. He built tree forts with all his children and taught them each to ski. The family home was happily shared with many beloved dogs and other animal friends. He engaged passionately in intellectual and heartfelt conversations with his wife and children, always.
He was a devoted, steadfast, and fierce advocate for those he loved; he instilled this character in his children, along with a great appetite for adventure, thirst for knowledge and ethic of hard work. David was a discriminating thinker who beat to his own drum. He never failed to go toe to toe with someone of an opposite opinion, but remained respected and admired for his nuanced positions, even by those who held very different views.
To be loved by David was to be truly blessed. As a young man, David shared that when he died, he wanted to be remembered as a good man. While he was not ready to die, and left us far too young, he no doubt accomplished that life goal.
David was preceded in death by his father Leo, his sister Terry, and his brother Thomas. He is survived by his wife, Monica DeRaspe-Bolles; their daughters, Jenny DB Nordin and McKenzie DeRaspe-Bolles; their son, Gabriel Bolles; their grandchildren, Lachlan, Ronan, Lincoln, and Cora; and their sons by marriage, Jonathan Nordin and Hague van Dillen. He is also survived by his dear mother, Margaret Bolles, and brothers, Kelly, and Edward.
A gathering to remember and celebrate David’s life will be held on Saturday, March 19,
2022, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Please reach out to the family for details.
A reception for David will be held Wednesday, March 9, 2022 from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM at Sunset Hills Funeral Home, 1215 145th Place SE, Bellevue, Washington. A visitation will occur from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM, 1215 145th Place SE, Bellevue, Washington. A committal service will occur Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at 12:30 PM at Sunset Hills Memorial Park, 1215 145th Place SE, Bellevue, Washington.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18