I just found this as I was searching her name to find an address and write to her. I knew Beverly had passed in July 2013. That was the year I found I had colon cancer and had only recent to losing Beverly been in ICU in a coma on life support.  I have many wonderful memories of Mrs Powell. We were raised in those days you did not call a grown u by their first name. We lived on 10th Ave right behind them. Beverly and I became best friends at the age of 4 or 5.I can remember that house of theirs. When Mr Powell added that bedroom and den on the back of the house. She would give us kids a snack and she would eat peaches and cottage cheese....lol. She was never seen without a smile. The last time I actually saw her was when Beverly and Rex were waiting on their first baby to come.Mrs Powell was exited.I don't know if she were sick or what. But she has been on my mind a long time.I know she remarried.Beverly that is. Does anyone have pictures to share? Oh those old days. I love you Mrs Powell. RIP

     Thank you Gwyn and Garth for sharing your memories. Some of my favorite memories growing up are the family  reunions at your parents' home. I remember Bonnie as always smiling and always kind and interested in me. My mother treasured her friendship and loved to visit with her during the years we lived in Mobile. Even though I have seen her very  little in recent years, her passing is the loss of another link to my parents. Please accept my condolences to each one in your family,

You will always live in our hearts and prayers.

One of the earliest memories I have of Bonnie is she would take my bottle away from me as a baby.  She was only two years and two months older than I.  Mother had to wean us both off the bottle at the same time.

Growing up in South Alabama, we were expected to help out on the farm.  We did chores like hoeing corn, chopping and picking cotton.  Other chores included carrying wood into the house for cooking and heating during the winter time.  Bonnie was always willing to do her part.

After I went off to college she and Bobby invited me to stay with them for the summer of 1957 and work at the local paper mill.  This enabled me to save enough money to pay for school expenses the following year.

My enduring memory will be her capacity to love and give of herself to those around her.  She was a very caring daughter, sister, mother, grand and great grand mother.  She will be missed but forever in our hearts.

May God bless you and your family in this time of sorrow.

Bonnie was so precious to us personally and our church as well. She was such an inspiration to us all, and will be sorely missed!  God blessed us all through Bonnie. She never gave up or gave in.

I wanted to recall some fond memories of my sister Bonnie.

One of the most memorable things about Bonnie was her outlook on life and things in general. She always had a bright and optimistic approach to life. She did not let life's problems get her down. She epitomized, if you are handed a lemon, make lemonade. 

She was a good Mother, grandma, sister, aunt, wife, friend, and homemaker.

For me, growing up, she was a big sister that could do anything. And, she helped me learn to do things like: 
Tying my shoes - gave clear and illustrious instructions that I could follow and remember.
Learning to write cursive (long hand). Close up the a or, "it will rain in it."

She would look out for me at school, e.g., she took me to the dentist that came around to the school and stayed with me while the dentist worked on my teeth.
She was quite mischievous and one of her beauties was that she never outgrew it  you couldn't get anything on her  she would give it right back to you. 

 Once, we both had a childhood disease like the measles - she was just getting over hers and I was just coming down with mine. Mom put the thermometer in my mouth to take my temperature and Bonnie thought it would be a good joke to pull the thermometer out of my mouth and tell Mom that I wasn't taking my temperature like I was supposed to. When she pulled it out I bit the thermometer into. After getting the glass and mercury out of my mouth , we had a big laugh.

Growing up, we would do things to entertain ourselves. One of her favorites was swinging on a vine swing. We would cut a muscadine vine, attached way up in a tree, preferably on a hillside  so that it gave lift on the swing out. She surely enjoyed those swings.

After eating a watermelon we would cut up the rhines into a syrup bucket and have a watermelon rhine fight in the back yard and barn. She gave as good as she got.

When she graduated from high school she moved to Mobile where she met her husband, Bobby, and raised her family  Beverly, Davonna, and David.

She would continue to do things to help me, like buying me a favorite shirt when I was in High School and a coat when I was in college.

When Shirley and I got a camping trailer, Bonnie would sometimes go camping with us up in Tennessee. She loved the campfires, hiking the trails and being outdoors. She got a big kick out of us going to one of the cabins to borrow some of their firewood.

When our Mother had a stroke in 92 and was confined to a nursing home in Eight Mile, Bonnie visited her every day. She set the bar for caring for an invalid family member. She made sure our Mom had clean clothes, personal items, that the nursing home was properly caring for her, and that Mom was comfortable, EVERY DAY for six years, never complaining.  

More recently, we would visit our sister Betty and after supper, we would often play dominoes. We kept individual scores and Bonnie was very competitive  when she won she would make sure we knew about it at least until the next time we played.

She was so full of life, until the recent times. She was determined to attend the Old Timers reunion at Coffeeville High School three weeks ago, even though she was very sick. She loved to go to that Old Timers Reunion.  I'm thankful to say, in her determined spirit, she was able to make it to that event.

Given the rough time she has had the last several months. It seems fitting that I finish with a quote from Isaiah 40/4. That quote is:

The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth.
I do believe that things are straight and smooth for her now.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Ms. Bonnie.  She was such a sweet neighbor to my mom and dad for many years

OBITUARY

Bonnie Fay Powell

December 8, 1934 – November 5, 2015

Radney Funeral Home – Saraland

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