Happy birthday Granny!! We love you and miss you so much!!!

In loving memory of dear Bonnie Marie. Your loved ones will miss you forever.

I love you and can't believe you've been gone for 7 years! Must be because I talk to you in my head all the time :)

I Love and Miss You.

Happy birthday Granny!!! I love you and miss you so much!

Mom, miss you so much wish you were here to see all your beautiful great grandchildren and the new one on the way. Love you! Happy Birthday!

The years go by, and still we remember you with love, dear Bonnie Marie. You are forever missed by your family and friends.

Happy Birthday, dear Bonnie Marie! If I close my eyes, I can see you, John Rolfe, and Roy - laughing, kidding around, singing the birthday song. I send you all love and hugs, and I want you to know that I miss y'all very much. The world's a bit smaller without the three of you. I love you, Bonnie Marie.

Happy Birthday Momma! I'm was blessed beyond words to have a Mom like you. Always in my thoughts, Love you!

David and I miss you so much. We loved talking about you this morning and remembering...
Can’t believe you left us just five years ago. Seems like much longer and we would give anything for one more day.

Always in my thoughts and forever in my heart. I love you and miss you more than I can tell you.

Love you and miss you so Mom.

Dear Bonnie Marie, you are loved and missed on this day, and on every day - forever in your loved ones' hearts.

Hard to believe you left us 5 years ago! Love and miss you!

Happy birthday, Granny!! I love you and miss you so much!

Mom, I think of you more often than ever! So much going on that I wish you were here to be a part of. You would have such fun with Ellie Mae & Charleston as they bring so much joy to each day. You would be so proud of your granddaughter and the mom she has become. Amy could use some of your wisdom at this point in her life. Ben & Brad are doing very well with a lot going on in their lives. Brenda and I talk about you often. I miss you so and I hope you hear my conversations with you as I often know what your answers would be. You are so missed, love you!

Oh, how I miss you so much, Granny!!! So many things have happened in my life that I wish you were here for. I know that you are looking down and are a part of it all though. I love and miss you so much! I read the daily devotion book that you gave to my Mom that she has passed down to me and on this particular day it says: Trust and Thankfulness will get you safely through this day.
I trust that you are smiling upon me in heaven and I am thankful for the bond that we had for 28 years on this earth and the bond that we carry together now. I love you, Granny.

Hard to believe it has been four years since your passing because I can still feel you with us. It is such a comfort. Sending love your way today and everyday.

I miss you all the time Mama -- and I'm thinking about you today.

Happy Birthday Momma! Love you and miss you every day. Got to see your favorite baseball team clinch a division championship today, you would have loved it!

I miss you Mama, and I love you.

Seems like yesterday we were enjoying the day on your back porch. You and Dad will always be in our hearts. Love you both!

I love you and miss you Granny!!! I can't believe it's been 3 years already. I think of you often and I hope you and Grandaddy are doing good up in heaven! I love you!

I love you Mama.

Happy birthday Momma! Forever on my mind and in my heart. Love you!

Even though our loved ones have gone ahead, I still count the years, and celebrate the birthdays and anniversaries. Happy 88th birthday to you, sweetheart Bonnie Marie. You were always wonderfully kind to me, and you are remembered fondly by everyone who was ever fortunate enough to know you.

I miss Bonnie Marie, Roy, and John Rolfe, and I know you all do too. They were wonderful people, and I'm grateful to have known them.

This is and will always be a hard day for me and for all of the family. The wonderful memories are a comfort and I rely on them whenever I start to feel sad about not having you here physically. You will always be in our hearts and on our minds. Sending love....

Thinking about Bonnie on her birthday -- we will always miss her! Love to all, Linda, Andy, and Aina Claire

Always, always in my heart and mind. What a lucky son I was to have been able to call you my mother. I love you!

Some memories of "Teenie" from Genevieve McDuff, Bonnie's first cousin on her mother's side:

   "There are so many HAPPY memories I have tried to flood my mind over these past weeks in order to block out the sad one as I know she would want. We were always very close as she was only two years younger than me. When they lived in Oak Ridge (where George's hanger now stands), I spent a lot of time there I'm sure because Daddy was sick with heart trouble and spent a time in the hospital. Aunt Jim and Uncle Jack (who raised Uncle Roy) lived next door. Uncle Jim McClernon was a brick layer and had a huge stack of bricks towards the back of his house. Nearby was a mulberry tree that he had built a tree house for children to play in. This is where we planned our adventure and mischief. We decided to build a Titanic Ship!!! It took us all day to even get started but when Uncle Jack got home that evening our venture was over. He reprimanded us in a kind way but left no doubt in our minds that we were NEVER to do that again. I certainly will never gorget the effort it too to get all those bricks back on the 8 foot stack. From then on the Titanic was just imaginary. Aunt Jim was always making cookies and cake in addition to all the delicious food. When Aunt Bonnie (Roy's sister) visited, we were fascinated with all her adventures, fancy clothes and fun stories. When she told a story, she left nothing out and this was a delight to our young ears.
   One day we decided to SWIM in the "hog wallow" (actually a very small pond that the hogs used to bathe). To this day I can't imagine us thinking this would be fun. But I had a thing for mud--loving to put ashes on a pathway and slide in it when it rained. Don't know how we stood the odor of the hogs but we would yell to make them move out and let us in. Makes me shudder today to think of the diseases we could have caught.
   Dorothy and I both carried a burden of guilt when Bonnie Marie got burned but Mother and Aunt Betsy did their best to put the guilt under the rug. It was my idea to buy the sparklers and Dorothy's idea to get a ladder to get them from the closet where Mother had put them. Thank goodness for Bill Taylor, an African American who helped care for Daddy--he grabbed a wool blanket on the foot of the hospital bed, wrapped it around her and with bare hands pulled her clothing off. He saved her life!!! They were living in Oak Ridge and I spent a lot of time there while she recuperated with a tent over her body while lying in bed. Dr. Hunter's wife who was also a doctor but did not practice, took this case under study and sought to get the very best care for Bonnie Marie that she could. A tent was made with a light and she was to stay under it for a certain number of minutes a day, increasing the time each day. This also was a miracle in her recovery.
   They moved to Mer Rouge where they built a new home and a stile (stair steps over a fence to our house)--a lane separated our homes. There on the stile we secretly planned our adventures again. Mostly it was swimming in our ponds, playing dolls and "pretending"--something the children of today know nothing about, I'm afraid.
   As we married and had our families, there was less time for being together and so these twilight years have been so VERY special because of she and Bill's visits at least once a year, sometimes twice. Phone visits are great but can't replace a hug and midnight chats. We shared our blessings and I always got names of special books she recommended. I, in turn, gave them to my book club at church, so many benefited. The men played golf and Bonnie and I would ride along with them sometimes, enjoying the beautiful scenery, probably not being as quiet as necessary. A very special night was when I invited Roy, Sallie and John Rolfe to come--it was a reuniting of a ripple in relationship--what a blessing!
   I could never print enough adjectives to praise Teenie--she had them all--the good ones! She had a deep spiritual sense that saw her through trials and tribulations but always saw the rainbow. I envision her reunion with all her family and the fun they are enjoying. She would never want us to cry but to remember HAPPY times together so that is what I ask of you. No one can take away those precious memories. Awake each morning and recall a funny time (she loved HAPPY). It will help you and honor her."

I will always celebrate your birthday and on this day acknowledge (September 22nd) the extraordinary mother I was blessed with.

Well, I wish I had been able to spend more time with Bonnie Marie, but I can say that she was always, always kind to me, to my sister, Ginger Windsor, and to my Mother, Ruth Ellis. I remember her as smiling, always positive, and truly a beautiful person. To her loved ones, I hope you know that I remember her very fondly. Love, Cherie

Granny,

I miss you so much!

"Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realize that nothing really belongs to them" - Paulo Coelho

Always in my thoughts, love you Momma!

My thoughts and prayers go out to Uncle Bill and the kids - I know she will be missed greatly by you all the most. She was always so kind and gentle when I'm sure I was pestering her or the other adults as a kid :-)
Look forward to seeing y'all in Oak Ridge in a few weeks.
Mark

Aunt Bonnie Marie was a beautiful person inside and out and I will miss her. She had such a loving nature and was always so interested in others, she just drew people to her with her sweetness. She was also one to be sure and pray for you, as she did for me, and I love her for that. I am looking forward to heaven when we can sit together again and hear all the antics from her youth, this time without a recorder but with no time constraints as we will have forever! Love to all the family and so sorry you have had to tell her goodbye for now.

I was saddened to learn of Bonnie Marie's passing. I didn't get to see her near as much as I would have liked. I remember being a flower girl in her wedding. I wish I had known her better. I always thought of her fondly when I was growing up. Her presence will be missed greatly.

There is really no way to sum up the life of someone who lived it as fully as our Mom did.

She loved people, and could light up a room with her smile. She touched every person she met with her graciousness, and she lived a life full of gratitude. She loved music — all kinds. She marveled at nature — she loved the sea and the mountains, and the small things weren’t small to her — little birds and tiny shells were miracles to our Mom. She believed all things were possible — it really didn’t matter if they were or not, she would tell you “it was so.”

She believed in us, and if we heard the words “Honey, you can do it” one time, we heard it a thousand times.

She was a one person little freight train of faith that seldom stopped to take on water, and never ran out of steam… until now.

She loved the Episcopal Church, and she loved St. Clement’s. We’re blessed that she passed on her faith to us, a faith of magnitude and substance. Her eyes would literally sparkle as she shared a new revelation she had about Christ, or something beautiful she’d read or heard. And when she said she was praying for you, she meant it. I would joke with her often about having a direct line to Jesus, and would ask her to keep praying hard for one or the other of us, knowing we’d have a much better shot of being heard if it came from her.

I loved our conversations, especially about faith or the world situation, and would often try to turn them into little debates — just to get her going, knowing she was probably right. And in the end, if there was no resolution, she‘d often say, “You just need to hand this over to the Lord.” Very recently we were having one of those debates, and I was a bit put out with the conversation when she said, “Bill, hand it over to the Lord.” Well, I said, I didn’t know if I’d be talking to Jesus that day and wasn’t sure when I would be — so we left it at that.

Little did I know it would be the last full conversation we’d have.

About a week later I received a box from Amazon. I hadn’t ordered anything, so I was really curious what it contained. I opened the box — it was a book. And the title? “Jesus Calling.” I guess she thought if I wasn’t going to call on Jesus, she’d have him call on me. But how appropriate for what was about to unfold in her life.

Within weeks he finally called her to him — to his arms where she always knew she would find everlasting peace and light... as she chose to have sung at her service “…a joy like none others have known.”

I love you and miss you Mom.

My sweet Granny,

My heart hurts so much. I wish I could have one more talk with you. You gave the best advice and always found the good in any situitaion. Our lives will not be the same without you. I found this letter and as I was reading it I could hear you saying this to me.

Letter From Heaven
When tomorrow starts without me
and I'm not here to see
If the sunshould rise and find your
eyes filled with tears for me.

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
the way you did today
While thinking of the many things
we didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me
as much as I love you
And each time you think of me
I know you will miss me too.

When tomorrow starts without me
don't think we're far apart
for every time you think of me
I am right there in your heart.

I will forever carry a piece of you with me in my heart. I am so grateful God made you my Granny. Love you forever beautiful angel.

I am devastated by Teenie's transition as she was more like a sister than a cousin, so very close from early childhood----sharing so many fun times and a few very scary ones. I am just thankful that we had so many wonderful years to share our love and great memories. To all the family Dan and I send our deepest sympathy and hope the many happy memories of years past will help overcome the present grief. As you wake eadh morning, think of a happy time you spent with her----it will help you and will honor her. She loved those happy times! What a GREAT lady!!!!

I regret to learn that Bonnie Marie passed away last Saturday and I will miss her. My sympathy and condolences go to her children and grandchildren--my cousins. I recall loaning her my geology course notes at NLU when she was taking one of the classes. 

Sincerely,
Joe R. White, Jr.
Haughton, LA

We loved Bonnie and knew her for years through David and Ginny. She was always so friendly and warm and interested in everyone and what they were doing. Her love for her family and friends was so obvious whenever we were with her. Just one recent example, I loved seeing her comments on Facebook whenever I would post a photo of our daughter. She cared about us and loved us even though we were two steps removed in-laws. She was so special! She will be missed so much by so many, and that is the best tribute of all to a life lived well. Much love and sympathy to everyone, Linda, Andy, and Aina Claire

Saying that my Granny will be missed is an understatement. Over the past few days I have tried to put a grasp on what has really happened and I cannot even begin to fathom it. However I am truly grateful to have known my Granny for 28 years. Many of my friends have not been lucky enough to have their grandmother around for that long. In situations like this you can't possibly write enough to explain just how much Granny has left an impact on my life as well as others. My heart is truly broken and I am truly depressed but I know that my Granny would want me to live my life to the fullest just like she did. She was the sweetest and caring lady I have ever met. I know she will be smiling down on me every day for the rest of my life. God has truly gained an angel. In life you can never truly get over a death, you just learn how to live with it. A part of Granny will always live within me for the rest of my life. Granny I love you so much and will miss all of our talks. I hope to see you again someday.

It hurt to see her go, to say goodbye for now to the one person who always, always shared nothing but true unqualified love, good times and bad. Mom fought hard her whole life, just like she fought the many recent health issues to continue to have time with those she loved. Oh what a beautiful soul! My whole family and I have been lucky to have had the opportunity to call her our Mother, our Granny and for Dad his wife of sixty-five years. My hope is her future journeys bring her nothing but peace, joy & love just as she brought to many others. Until we meet again, I will always love you and have you in my heart.

Bonnie Marie was such a wonderful and gracious lady - forever to be missed indeed. My thoughts are with you all. With love from Wendy & Chris's Aunt Toade.

I miss my dear Aunt Teenie. What a lovely, thoughtful, and kind woman! We will love you always, always.