UN MESSAGE DE LA FAMILLE

A Tribute to Our Mom, Rosie May Bonan By Ronda and Roe Ann Collette July 25, 2022 Never did we dream that we would be writing this so soon. But it is truly our honor to share a little about our mom. Mom passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of July 18, 2022. She was born May 6, 1937 on a family farm outside of Rinard, Illinois where she grew up with her four younger siblings and parents, William and Wilma Laughlin. Mom attended Willow Branch School, a one-room schoolhouse, where the school master was her Uncle, Estes Laughlin. She later attended Flora High School and graduated in 1955. While in school she worked summers at a local dry cleaning shop and babysat for neighbors. After her high school graduation, she started working at a shoe factory but was soon notified that she had received a scholarship to the University of Southern Illinois in Carbondale. Her first two years at SIU, she worked as a nanny for a college professor in exchange for room and board then worked in the housing office the last two years. After graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor’s of Education degree in Home Economics she began her teaching career at Lawrenceville Junior High School. Due to health conditions, Mom was advised to move to a dryer climate. So, in the summer of 1961 she moved to Estes Park Colorado and started to work as a cook for Riverside Lodge. Shortly after she was offered a teaching position in Olathe Colorado and moved to Montrose. It was while working at Olathe High School that she met a fellow teacher, Rudy Bonan, who would become the love of her life. They were married on August 3, 1963. The newlyweds moved to Pueblo and set down roots. Mom taught one year at Pueblo County High School before she resigned to start a family—we became the four R’s; Rudy, Rosie, Ronda, and Roe Ann. Once her girls were in school, Mom returned to Pueblo County High School and continued to teach for School District 70 until her retirement in 1991. In addition to teaching full time and raising a family, she started taking classes at Colorado State University. She drove several nights a week to Fort Collins and spent several weeks there during the summer attending classes. Mom received her Master’s of Education degree in 1973. Mom was a member of the Order of Eastern Star, American Business Women’s Association, numerous professional educator associations including The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and was a faithful member of Lynn Gardens Baptist Church. Momma was the ultimate hostess. She found pleasure and pride in opening her home to family and friends. She enjoyed sewing, camping, traveling and spending time with family, especially at her cabin in Guffey. She was a devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and faithful friend. Mom is preceded in death by her parents William and Wilma Laughlin, her beloved husband Rudy Bonan, brothers Willie and George Laughlin, brothers in law Bob Golden and Tom Colclasure, and brother in law and sister in law Al and Bernice Bonan. She is survived by her children Ronda (Pat) Collette and Roe Ann (Tim) Collette; grandchildren Timothy John Collette and Jenna (Brandon) Kliesen; great grandson Brock Kliesen; sisters Eunice Golden and Betty Colclasure; sisters in law Mary Laughlin and Ann Phillips, many nieces and nephews, extended family and friends. Roe Ann and I wanted to share some additional thoughts and stories. Just like daddy, mom’s core values were faith, family, and education. She lived these values and instilled them in us early on through teaching and modeling. She and daddy were a united front and supported each other until the very end. When daddy got sick, mom never left his side even though she too had health problems. Ronda and I always said they were the perfect pair. When we asked her how she and daddy started dating she explained; her youngest sister Betty came to stay while her husband, our Uncle Tom, served in the navy. Mom left her car for Aunt Betty and began commuting to and from work with daddy. The two began to spend more time together. Daddy would go fishing and bring the catch to mom to cook for dinner. We once asked daddy when he knew mom was the right one for him. He said he had taken mom to Durango to meet his parents. While there, mom proceeded to make a fruit pie from scratch right there on the kitchen table in front of grandpa. Grandpa then told daddy, “You better marry that girl, she’s a good one!” Daddy eventually proposed and mom said “Yes”. One of their co-teachers kept asking mom about the wedding date. Mom told him it depended on when grandpa’s sow had her piglets. Not liking that answer the teacher himself called grandma Laughlin. Her reply of course was the date depended on “When the sow had her pigs.” They married on August 3, 1963 and were married for 58 years before daddy passed last December. She and daddy taught us a lot about supporting and loving each other. What one couldn’t do the other did. They were truly each for the other and all for the Lord. Some may find it hard to imagine mom as an Illinois farm girl. But during summer vacations Mom, Daddy, Ronda and I would load into our car for the two day trip back to Rural Route 1, Rinard, Illinois, the site of her childhood home and working farm. To Ronda and I it was a wonderful summer time adventure, full of family, dogs, kittens, pigs, tractors, the most flavorful fresh picked produce like sweet corn, ripe tomatoes, gooseberries, and not to mention fried chicken and gravy. We loved hearing stories about growing up on the farm told by mom and our Illinois family. Momma talked about sharing a bed with her siblings, cooking over a coal stove and washing laundry in an old hand cranked washing machine. Their only bathroom was an outhouse and they bathed in a wash tub in front of the coal stove. Although her childhood and youth were very different from what Ronda and I experienced, the memories mom shared with us were good ones. She learned to cook and sew and talked about how much they worked and shared together as a family. As mentioned earlier, Mom’s Uncle Estes was her school teacher. He was also her mentor and a big reason she became a teacher. Faith was a corner stone for her family. She talked about the family loading up in the wagon to attend Sunday School and church. And she was very proud, despite the fact that she almost drowned, to have been baptized in a river very close to her family’s farm. Mom was our first teacher and lifelong mentor. She taught us to cook and sew. We remember rolling out pie crusts with little rolling pins and adding cinnamon and sugar for an extra special treat. She taught us to can fruits and vegetables and how to properly set a table. She was an excellent seamstress. Momma made a lot of our clothes when we were little often making us matching outfits. One time mom made us blouses and showed us how to finish them by sewing a hem. The next time we asked her to hem an item, she stated, “That’s why I taught you girls how to do it.” After her retirement mom enjoyed learning how to quilt. She spent hours making quilts for family and loved ones. Each one was unique and a genuine gift from the heart. Most recently she enjoyed working with Ronda and I on quilting projects once again slipping into the role of teacher and mentor. Mom was a devoted Christian … Faithful daughter of God … Humble servant. Sundays were for Sunday School, Church and family. She loved to study and learn about God. She participated in Bible studies and women’s mission groups. She witnessed to others through her words and actions. She was a youth group leader, led Bible studies, and taught Sunday School. She served as Sunday School Superintendent, organized and cooked for Vacation Bible School, church dinners, and mission trips, and participated on many pastor search committees just to name a few of the many ways mom served the Lord. Momma was a prayer warrior who would not only pray for you but led others to pray as well. Perhaps the greatest gift she gave us was to teach us about God. Roe Ann and I were truly blessed to have grown up in a Christian home. Momma not only taught us how to live, she also taught how to die by facing the end of life with faith, grace and courage. Mom’s last few weeks were difficult ones. But once again her truly sweet and kind nature shined through. She had a smile on her face and used the words please and thank you. Her smile and laugher could light up a room. I remember a time when we were little girls, probably after our Grandpa Bonan passed away. Ronda, mom and I were driving home from church and we were asking mom questions about heaven. I’ll never forget her answer, she said “Heaven’s a beautiful place full of sunshine, streets of gold, and God’s joyous people. And she added, I can’t wait to get there one day.“ This memory has comforted us greatly as we shared the final journey with mom. It’s obvious by the countless gestures of love and support we have received that momma was loved and respected by many. Our family appreciates all of the thoughts, prayers, and kind words. They have meant the world to us. A Tribute to Our Grandma, Rosie Bonan By Jenna Kliesen and TJ Collette July 25, 2022 We could talk about what an amazing person our grandma was, but everyone who has met her already knows that. We were beyond blessed to have her as our grandma. When talking about what we would say today we both agreed that some of our fondest memories revolved around being in the kitchen, baking with her. She taught us how to measure flour correctly, leveling it off with the back of a butter knife, and how to crack and beat eggs. We remember baking cookies around Christmas time, and making pies for Thanksgiving. When we were little, Grandma and Grandpa watched us before school and every morning we would make pancakes from scratch. She had the best pancake recipe, and Jenna and I loved to eat the batter. She would let us measure everything out and mix the batter and then she’d pour the batter onto the skillet making us mini pancakes. We liked them to be “doughy” and would yell at her to flip them and take them off before they were burnt. If the batter wasn’t leaking out the side of the pancakes, we’d consider them burnt. She’d tell us “I can hardly flip them when they are this raw” but she’d do it for us anyways. We also have fond memories of Christmas mornings. We had a tradition to get together in the morning, usually it was at grandmas house… grandma and grandpa, mom and dad, Aunt Ronda and Uncle Pat, and as our family grew Brandon, Meghan & Mitzi. We would sort out all of the presents and sit in a big circle and take turns opening a gift one at a time. Grandma was famous for getting the tags on the gifts mixed up. It never failed that someone would open up a gift that belonged to someone else. Before we talk about what happened this last Christmas, there are a few things you need to know about Grandma and Christmas presents. The first thing is that she was a catalog shopper. She loved to shop year round from her catalogs and had a way of finding the most unique and quirky gifts for us. And the second thing is she always wanted to make sure we were all treated equally so when she found something really awesome she would buy it for everyone. This last Christmas she got us what I can only describe to be a “bowl warmer” think pot holder but for a soup bowl. So Meghan’s turn comes to open a gift and she opens a pack of bowl warmers, and in the back of my mind I’m thinking okay we are all getting bowl warmers this year. So I try to look through my pile of gifts to find the gift that looks like what Meghan just opened but had no luck. Meghan’s turn comes back around and she opens ANOTHER pack of bowl warmers. Grandma was confused and gave her usual explanation “ohh that one was supposed to go to Ronda” … but it didn’t just stop there, for the next three or four rounds Meghan opened a pack of bowl warmers. We all had a good laugh, and thankfully Meghan decided to share them with us all. But it never failed something like this happened every Christmas. Grandma would get so upset and try and blame Grandpa for mixing up the name tags when he was helping her warp but we all know it was her. There’s many more memories we will hold close to our hearts as we remember our grandma. She taught us how to sew, we painted wood projects that grandpa made in his shop, we went to vacation bible school every summer at her church, and we enjoyed countless nights of playing cards- most notably hand and foot. Grandma and Grandpa bought property in Guffy when we were little that is now home to our cabin, something they’ve left to us. It is a very special place for our family. We will remember spending quality time with both her and grandpa there and it will be a place that we cherish for many years to come. Her and grandpa were so excited when Jenna and Brandon told them they were expecting a baby. We are grateful that grandma got to meet Brock, our newest member of the family and her great grandchild. In her last few weeks when they brought Brock in to see her she would light up, despite the shape she was in. We have so much peace knowing that her and grandpa are now happily reunited in heaven and are watching over us all.

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Rosie M. Bonan

6 mai 1937 – 18 juillet 2022

AUX SOINS DE

Imperial Memorial Gardens Funeral, Cremation & Cemetery

Rosie May Bonan went to be with the Lord on July 18, 2022. She was born May 6, 1937 on a family farm outside of Rinard, Illinois where she, her four younger siblings and parents lived. Rosie attended Willow Branch School, a one-room schoolhouse, where the school master was her Uncle, Estes Laughlin. She later attended Flora High School and graduated in 1955. While in school she worked summers at a local dry cleaning shop and babysat for neighbors. After her high school graduation, she started working at a shoe factory but was soon notified she had received a scholarship to the University of Southern Illinois in Carbondale. While attending college at SIU, she worked as a nanny for a college professor in exchange for room and board. The last two years she worked in the housing office. After graduating in 1959 with a Bachelor’s of Education degree in Home Economics she began teaching at Lawrenceville Junior High School. Due to health conditions, Rosie was advised to move to a dryer climate. So, in the summer of 1961 she moved to Estes Park Colorado and commenced working as a cook for Riverside Lodge. Shortly after she was offered a teaching position in Olathe Colorado and moved to Montrose.

It was while she worked at Olathe High school that she met a fellow teacher, Rudy Bonan, who would become the love of her life. They were married on August 3, 1963. The newlyweds moved to Pueblo and set down roots. Rosie taught one year at Pueblo County High School before she resigned to start a family. Rosie and Rudy had two daughters, Ronda and Roe Ann.

Once her girls were in school, Rosie returned to Pueblo County High School and continued to teach for School District 70 until her retirement in 1991. In addition to teaching full time and raising a family, she started taking classes at Colorado State University. She drove several nights a week to Fort Collins and spent weeks during the summer there attending classes. Rosie received her Master’s of Education degree in 1973.

Rosie was a member of the Order of Eastern Star, American Business Women’s Association, numerous professional educator associations including The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International and was a faithful member of Lynn Gardens Baptist Church.

Rosie enjoyed hostessing family and friends, cooking, sewing, camping, traveling and spending time with family, especially at her cabin in Guffey. She was a devoted wife, loving mother, grandmother, great grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin and faithful friend.

Rosie is preceded in death by her parents William and Wilma Laughlin, her beloved husband Rudy Bonan, brothers Willie and George Laughlin, brothers in law Bob Golden and Tom Colclasure, brother in law and sister in law Al and Bernice Bonan.

She is survived by her children Ronda (Pat) Collette and Roe Ann (Tim) Collette; grandchildren Timothy John Collette and Jenna (Brandon) Kliesen; great grandson Brock Kliesen; sisters Eunice Golden and Betty Colclasure; sisters in law Mary Laughlin and Ann Phillips, many nieces and nephews, extended family and friends.

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