Bonnie Carson was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on October 21, 1929, to Loree Donald Smith and Bonnie Ima Smith. She was the youngest of three children having a sister, Loree (Smith) Douglas, and brother, Walter James Smith. Bonnie attended Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma City University.
She was married on Christmas Day, December 25, 1948, to Alan Carter Cringle. She gave birth and raised two children, David Clayton Cringle and Loree Elise (Cringle) Lavin. Following his 10-year struggle with Parkinson’s Disease, her husband, Alan, died November 21, 1988. The family moved from Oklahoma City to Amarillo, Texas, in 1963, where Bonnie remained until her death. Bonnie worked in her husband’s pharmacy and later in St. Anthony’s Hospital pharmacy preparing medications for patients.
On April 16, 1990, she was married to the Reverend Robert M. Carson. They traveled for many years all over the country in their RV with their King Charles Cavalier Spaniels. Their favorite places to visit were along the East Coast.
Bonnie enjoyed any type of table games with the family, where her competitive nature showed forth. She was a skilled bridge player, amassing several master points in duplicate bridge competitions. An accomplished piano player and singer, Bonnie sang soprano in church choirs and a family gospel quartet. She supported her children’s music by serving as president of the band parents’ group during their high school years.
Bonnie was generous with her delightful smile, so full of life that she would light up any room or conversation she entered. She did not consider herself a social person, but she could and would start up a conversation with absolutely anyone and quite often the topic was her family in which she took a lot of pride. She had a wicked sense of humor and was passionate about life and all it offered. She enjoyed oil painting, where mountain landscapes were a favorite subject, drawn from the memory of many family camping trips to the southern Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. Bonnie was a dog lover, as she raised a continual succession of different breeds throughout her life, including obedience training a therapy dog with which she visited area hospitals. Other interests included growing beautiful roses, swimming (trained and worked as a lifeguard at YMCA in her forties and fifties), participating in groups for square dancing and bowling, and sewing special clothes for family members.
She is survived by her husband Robert Carson, son David Cringle and his wife Karen, daughter Elise Lavin and her husband Tom, grandchildren Brian Lavin, Carl Cringle, Tucker Lavin, and Julia (Cringle) Freitag, and seven great grandchildren.
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