The Richmond News, March 7, 2025

Harold Boelsen

Harold Allen Boelsen, 96, of Richmond, formerly of Carrollton, died at 7:35 a.m. Feb. 25, 2025, at Oak Ridge Assisted Living in Richmond, where he had resided for the past eight years. Harold Allen was born Feb. 25, 1929, in Missouri at Miami Station, the son of Henry A. C. Boelsen and Nellie Lee (Haney) Bolesen. On June 5, 1949, he married Lois Catherine Fergason of Carrollton. To this union, they were blessed with two daughters, Sandra (Bolesen) Goodwin and Janice Ann Boelsen.

Harold Allen graduated in 1947 from Carrollton High School and continued his education at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

He was a dedicated farmer and independent insurance agent until his retirement at age 72.

Aside from being a loving and devoted family man, Harold Allen was a devout Christian. His second family was his church family at the First Christian Church of Carrollton. As an active member of the church, he served in multiple leadership capacities and had trouble saying no when asked to serve.

Harold Allen’s hard work and leadership in the field of agriculture led him and others to establish the Mi-De Levee District in 1967. That same year, he began his tenure as a member of the board of directors for the district. His goal was to prevent the devastation that he and many others had suffered in the floods of 1951 and 1993. Because of his vast knowledge of the history of the Missouri River, its subsidiaries and their levee drainage systems, he was elected board president, a position in which he proudly served for 50 consecutive years. It was common to find Harold Allen walking the levees, driving the levees and sandbagging well into his 80s.

After years of doing business as an independent insurance agent, selling for the Cameron Mutual Insurance Co. (formerly known as Farmer’s Cooperative Mutual), he served as board president for decades spanning from the 1980s through the early 2000s.

Survivors include his two daughters, Sandra Goodwin and her husband Lyndon of Richmond, and Janice Boelsen and her husband Michael Jones of Blue Springs; grandson, Mark Goodwin and his wife Robyn (Cook) Goodwin; and two great-granddaughters, Scarlette and Ainsley, all of Richmond.

Harold Allen was preceded in death in 2008 by his wife of 59 years, Lois Catherine Boelsen; brother, Stewart Henry Boelsen; sisters, Audrey Lee Linton and Melba Jean Moeller; and great-grandson, Samuel Allen Goodwin.

The family suggests memorial contributions be made to the Endowment Fund of the First Christian Church of Carrollton or Shirkey Hospice and Palliative Care. They can be left at or mailed to Thurman Funeral Home; 507 E. Main St.-P.O. Box 190; Richmond, MO 64085.

Visitation and funeral services were scheduled for Monday, March 3, at First Christian Church in Carrollton, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. and services to follow at 11. Burial was to be in Carroll Memory Gardens in Carrollton.

Please share your memories of Harold with the family by visiting www.thurmanfuneralhome.com.