T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Christopher Bladen looks forward to casting his first U.S. vote this Election Day. Originally from England, he has lived in the United States for close to 40 years and applied for and received full citizenship this year.

BELLAIRE — Nov. 7 will be a special day for Christopher Bladen of the Rock Hill area of Bellaire.

Originally from Stoke-on-Trent, England, Bladen became a United States citizen this summer after spending more than 40 years here as a permanent resident. On July 11, Bladen received his certification as a citizen, so he is eligible to vote this Election Day, Nov. 7.

“I’m very proud to have this,” he said. “My loyalty is to the United States, and I want to help the United States get through these next years. We want to enjoy the fruits of efforts and see good things come.”

Bladen originally came to the United States on business trips.

“My father had a family business in manufacturing clothing,” he said. “I was in the family business for a while, and in 1978 I was involved with sales of the clothing in the United States.”

He decided to emigrate in 1981. He worked at a clothing company in Pittsburgh and earned permanent resident status in 1983. He would eventually form his own company, Chequers.

“I think the excitement of the country and the opportunity I was given in Pittsburgh appealed to me,” he said.

Bladen worked in finance and the insurance field with Guardian Life, then at Gaskets Rock International, selling refrigeration gaskets.

He also met and married Terriann Presutti Bonfini, who has ties to the Bellaire area. When they married in 2016, Bladen moved to Belmont County. He and Bonfini said the area proved very welcoming.

“My whole family just opened their arms to him and accepted him, so he felt very comfortable,” she said, adding that her husband came from a large and close family in England.

Bladen agreed.

“Terriann gave me some rose-colored glasses, so everything is beautiful here,” he said. “Family is very important. You don’t realize ’til you’re without it, but when you’re with it, it’s extraordinary.”

Bladen added that he is also grateful to the O’Neil family of Pittsburgh, who he lived with during his first six months in the United States. He recalled his initial time adapting to the U.S.

“Very scary, but I was blessed. I’ve always felt that I was guided in my life,” he said.

During visits to family in England, Bladen said people quickly noticed changes in him.

“It’s the accent. You might think I have an English accent. I believe that I do,” he said. “They would say: ‘Oh, you’ve got an American accent now.’ I think your ear picks up the language that you’re involved in, and I’ve been here 40-odd years.”

Bladen’s family is an interesting one. His father, Norman “Barry” Bladen, was in the British Army during World War II and was captured by the Japanese. He and other prisoners were in the area of Nagasaki when the United States dropped an atomic bomb.

“The Japanese ran away basically,” Bladen said.

He added that his father never spoke about his experiences during the war, but he died of leukemia believed to stem from the residual fallout shortly after Bladen’s decision to emigrate.

“Unfortunately, everyone involved contracted leukemia of some sort,” Bladen said of the soldiers who were in Japan with his father.

Bladen ws a voter in England before he left his homeland in 1981. His final decision to seek U.S. citizenship was spurred by the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

“She was an extraordinary woman,” he said. “When that happened, I re-evaluated my feelings about becoming a citizen, because I feel involved in how this country should be run and the only way you can do it is vote. That was really the push, so in February this year I applied and decided to move forward and decided to exchange my permanent residency for full-time citizen.”

The 75-year-old Bladen said the process involved background checks and a verbal quiz to determine if he could speak and read English, as well as to test his knowledge of American history and civics.

“Because I’m over 65, they only asked me 10 questions. Normally they’d ask 100,” he said.

He still frequently travels outside the country, since his mother, Eileen, is 101 years old and resides in Spain, where family members take turns living with her.

“I’m back and forth two or three times a year to help her,” he said.

Bladen looks forward to going to the Belmont County Board of Elections office in St. Clairsville to cast his first U.S. vote.

“This will be my first vote ever in the United States,” he said. “There’s an important vote about abortion coming up, that’s the big one, so I’m happy to be able to vote my conscience on that particular vote.”

Bladen also encourages other citizens to exercise their right to vote.