Bonnie Lee Pene

Pastor Bonnie Pene made her journey to heaven on Saturday, May 18th, after a long battle with cancer. Bonnie was born on March 13, 1949 in Great Lakes, Illinois to Richard and Helen Moore. Bonnie was raised in Northridge, CA and worked as a Superior Court jury clerk in Pasadena where she met her husband Jim when he went to serve on jury duty. They were married in 1972 and had one son, Matthew, who they raised in Seattle. Bonnie and Matt got very involved with mountaineering and spent many weekends hiking the Cascades together including two attempts at Mt. Rainier but both times were unable to summit due to altitude sickness. Bonnie was also very involved with competitive Western horse showing and dressage. After moving to Tucson, Bonnie felt God’s calling to become a Lutheran pastor and completed seminary in 2009. During her seminary years, she was diagnosed with peritoneal cancer which is a fatal disease. She never let that prognosis dampen her spirits and despite chemo, radiation, and several major surgeries she completed seminary, was ordained, and called to serve at Lutheran Church of the Foothills. Bonnie had completed a lifelong dream to become a Lutheran pastor and enjoyed serving the congregation. Pastor Bonnie's memorial service will be on Friday, June 7th at 3 pm at Lutheran Church of the Foothills.