Bonita “Bonnie” Onnie Smith

Funeral services for Bonita “Bonnie” Onnie Smith, age 91, of Conroe will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2014, at 3:00 p.m. at Cashner Colonial Chapel, 801 Teas Road, Conroe, Texas 77303, with Dr. Charles Walton officiating. Visitation is scheduled before the funeral service on Saturday, September 27, 2014 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Interment will follow in Garden Park Cemetery. Bonnie, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, was born in Rodley, Colorado, on November 17, 1922 and went to be with the Lord on September 23, 2014. She was raised on the family farm in southwest Oklahoma in the middle of the Great Depression with her parents Raymond and Nell Kimray, sisters, Helen and Nelda and brother, Leonard. She attended Roosevelt High School where she was Salutatorian of her class and played basketball. Bonnie married her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, Walter H. Smith, on July 4, 1942. They started their life together with nothing but love and were inseparable during 72 years of marriage. After high school, she attended a business college in Oklahoma City where she studied bookkeeping, shorthand and typing. Bonnie often spoke of having the best of two worlds – a stay-at-home Mom for 15 years until all five kids started school and then a career at NASA where she knew the original astronauts and was assistant to the assistant director. She was recognized as a leader and was active in the American Business Women’s Association and was selected as “Woman of the Year.” After retiring in 1980, Bonnie and Walt spent many happy years on their farm in Willis and then at their home in Conroe. Bonnie was an avid bridge player and enjoyed swimming, cooking MeMa’s fried chicken and baking bread and oatmeal cookies for her family and friends. Bonnie volunteered for many years at the Volunteer Auxiliary at Conroe Regional Hospital. She was also active in Welcome Wagon and Church Women United. She served as President for each of these three organizations. Bonnie and Walter were long-time members of Conroe First Baptist Church and served Christ in many ways over the years as Sunday school teacher and youth sponsor. Bonnie is preceded in death by her parents who provided a loving and caring home to grow up in, her devoted husband, sister Helen May, brother Leonard Kimray, and beloved son-in-law Jerry Bedell. Bonnie is survived by sister Nelda Gfell; her five children: daughter, Janice Krocker and husband Dan and their children Joe and Michael; son, Rodney Smith and wife Renee and their children Kelly and wife Kristin and Nikki Rapelje and husband Brandon; son Dr. Clete Smith; son Mark Smith and wife Jerri and their children Sara and Kevin; daughter Julie Bedell and her children Blake and Casey; two great-grandchildren Jackson and Madeleine; and numerous other relatives and friends. Bonnie loved her family deeply and their welfare was always her number one concern. Bonnie led a fruitful life, leaving to her family a legacy of love and a love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. You are invited to leave messages and condolences for the family at www.cashnerconroe.com.