Bonnie Rae Furlong

Bonnie Furlong was born Bonadine Rae Ehlers in Troy Ohio on July 10, 1937 and entered the Lord’s presence on Nov 5, 2021 in Peoria, Arizona. She is survived by her husband John, their 4 children, and 26 grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her beloved parents Bill and Margaret Ehlers and Sister Nancy Bunker, and her grandson Adam Lee Furlong.

Bonnie attended Kenilworth Elementary School until she graduated, then she attended West Phoenix High School, graduating in 1955. She returned to higher education later in life, earning a Bachelor’s degree and then a Master’s in Early Childhood Education, which she then put to use in preschools and elementary schools until her retirement.

She met the great love of her life, John Furlong in 1954, and they were married on June 9, 1956. She had their daughter Mindi (Kraicinski) in 1959, another daughter Jayne (Venard) in 1961, their first son Robert in 1962 and their youngest David in 1971. She and John celebrated 65 years of married life this year.

Bonnie also expressed her creative and artistic abilities in many different ways: some of her hobbies included oil and watercolor painting, crocheting, quilting (for which she won awards), sewing, creating character cakes for birthdays, playing piano and guitar, and photography. She also transcribed her grandmother’s daily diaries into several bound volumes. She loved the movie “The Sound of Music”, she also loved to read. Her favorite kinds of music were hymns and country. In her later years her favorite activity was looking through her many photo albums with her family and talking about the people in the photos.