Medway police officer recalled as large in stature, even larger in heart

MEDWAY — "Boult" was a bear of a man, but his friends said he was kind and gentle to everyone he met.

Retired Medway police Lt. William K. Boultenhouse, or "Boult" to his friends and fellow officers, died on April 18, after a brief illness. He was 61.

"He was huge, a really big guy, he was like 6-2 or 6-3, something like that," said Medway police Lt. Matthew Reardon, a longtime friend. "He could have used it to intimidate people, but he never did. That's not the kind of person he was. He preferred to resolve things with his demeanor and his words, not with his size."

Boultenhouse joined the department in 1983 as a dispatcher and became a full-time police officer in 1987. He was promoted to sergeant in 1999 and to lieutenant in 2007. He retired as a full-time officer in 2017 but remained a special police officer until 2020.

Boultenhouse served as a patrol officer and crime prevention officer, as well as a motorcycle officer. As a sergeant and lieutenant, he served as head of the dispatching center, and also managed patrol.

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Medway Deputy Fire Chief Michael Fasolino and Boultenhouse (who also served as a call firefighter for three years in the early 2000s) grew close as they joined their respective departments at about the same time and progressed in their careers.

The men each bought homes in Laconia, New Hampshire, right next door to one another other, Fasolino said.

"He's one of those guys you say is a great guy and you're going to miss him," he said. "Billy was one of those guys that, and you hate to say it because it was a cliche, but he'd give you the shirt off his back. He put his family first, his friends first. If you needed a hand with something, he'd drop everything and help you."

A 50-year relationship

Retired Medway Police Detective Don Grimes spent nearly his entire career working with Boultenhouse. They retired on the same day in 2017, but their relationship went back much further.

"Our friendship goes back over 50 years, back to middle school," said Grimes. "I was the best man at his wedding and he was the best man at my wedding. There was truly nobody like him. The good Lord, no matter what religion you subscribe to, will have to work overtime to replace him."

In a statement announcing Boultenhouse's death, Police Chief William Kingsbury praised is work as an officer.

"The first to step up when needed, the best friend anyone ever had, and the cop you wanted to be pulled over by are just some of what we've heard said about Boult over the last 24 hours," Kingsbury said. "Boult was that officer who could quell a riot simply by showing up. He also made easy connections with our residents and especially younger kids who needed a friend. He was a true brother in blue. Always concerned with others over himself, Boult will never be forgotten."

Grimes said Boultenhouse never liked to write tickets if he could avoid it, because he did not want to add costs to people's insurance. His goal was to make sure people drove safely.

'Just wanted to keep the community safe'

"If he was on a shift and he made 10 stops, 15 stops, he probably wouldn't give one citation — he would always rather give you a warning," said Grimes. "If you got a written ticket for a dollar amount from Bill Boultenhouse, you earned it. That wasn't his goal when he went out there — he just wanted to keep the community safe."

Reardon said Boultenhouse recruited him as a police officer 28 years ago. Reardon was a call firefighter and doing part-time dispatching in Franklin and had met Boultenhouse outside a store. Boultenhouse told him the Medway Police Department was hiring; Reardon applied and has been there ever since.

"I credit him, and retired Detective Donny Grimes and others, for making me the man and the police officer I am today," Reardon said.

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Outside work, the most important thing for Boultenhouse was his wife, Kim, and his three adult children, Brian, Danny and Shea, Fasolino said.

He also liked to keep busy after his retirement — he worked as a bartender at the Franklin Elks and delivered oil for Medway Oil.

Fasolino said he and Boultenhouse enjoyed boating while in New Hampshire and riding their Harley Davidsons during Laconia's annual Motorcycle Week.

"He was the epitome of a great friend," said Fasolino. "I've been to a lot of funerals in my day (but) his was one of the biggest funerals I've ever been to. That says a lot. Everyone loved him. Everything was positive about him, there was not one negative thing about him."

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date public safety news, follow him on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Medway police department mourns loss of longtime officer at age 61