Maria Teresa Bonario

Maria Teresa (Maritu) Bonario passed away April 5, 2025, at age 87. She was born in Caracas, Venezuela to Italian father Giovanni Borsotti and Argentine mother Haydee Fernandez. Educated in Milan, Italy she was tri-lingual in Spanish, Italian, and English and became an elementary school teacher in Caracas in the 1950s. In the early 1960s when she was in Ann Arbor studying English at the University of Michigan, she met husband Bernard Bonario. They were married for 60 years and lived in Ann Arbor, MI; Honolulu, HI; Padua, Italy; London, Canada; and Houston, TX.

Maria was a gentle soul who made friends easily and loved many whose lives crossed her own. She was devoted to her family, and her school-teaching background bore fruit in the early education of her three children. She insisted on Montessori pre-school for each of them and worked as a teacher assistant while they attended. After finally settling in Houston, and once her children were grown, she worked for Starship Hallmark at Park Mall in downtown Houston in the 1990s and as a Montessori pre-school teacher assistant again in the early 2000s.

After retirement, Maria made time to further her deep commitment to family history. She transcribed into readable modern Italian a 19th century manuscript of her father’s family history that begins in the 17th century written by a priest ancestor. From that she translated the text into English for her children. Afterwards she created her paternal family tree and illustrated it with photos taken from 19th century painted portraits of prominent north Italian family members. While working on that project she enrolled in biography writing classes at the Jewish Community Center in Houston where she studied for several years and made valued friendships with classmates. Those years were among the happiest in her later life.

Maria loved creative arts, especially textile arts, and most of all enjoyed hosting her family and friends at holiday meals where she took great care to set an artistic table for guests. Throughout her life Christmas was a very special annual time. She particularly cherished memories of her grandchildren at Christmas.

Gratitude is extended to her nieces Theresa Herrod, Michele McCloskey and Marie Norton and nephew Michael Bonario (and their spouses) whose Thanksgiving family gatherings of the past few years filled Maria’s heart when she was no longer able to host ones of her own.

As a life-long Catholic, Maria’s Christian faith was of equal importance to family in her life. She was devoted exceptionally to both. She will be truly missed by her immediate and extended families and by her friends.

Maria was preceded in death by her parents and brother Santiago Borsotti; She is survived by husband Bernard Bonario, son J. Stephen Bonario and partner Peter Johns, daughter Rima Bonario and husband Tobias White of Kansas City, MO, and daughter Lisa Miertschin and husband Will of Spring, TX and by grandchildren Sophia White, Sarah, Liam and Charlie Miertschin. Also by sister-in-law Nelia Borsotti of Venezuela; nieces and nephews in Houston and Lubbock, TX as well as in Australia and Denmark; first cousins in Italy and Argentina and in Chicago and Florida.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, the 12th of April at 12:00 noon at St. Christopher Catholic Church, 8150 Park Place Blvd. Houston, TX 77017 with Rev. Father Thu Le.

The rite of committal and interment will follow at 2:00 PM at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery and a reception at 3:00 PM at Forest Park Lawndale Funeral Home.

In lieu of customary remembrance, the family requests memorial contributions be directed to St. Christopher Catholic Church.