Karleen M. (Barnett) Bonaly
Marriages
Verne Bonaly - September 24, 1932
In Leavenworth, Kan.
Obituaries
Eagle Valley Enterprise page A5 - January 29, 2004
A READY SMILE AND TWINKLING EYES: COMMUNITY WILL MISS KARLEEN BONALY, by Kathy Heicher.
Eagle resident Karleen BONALY will be remembered as a sweet, pretty, tiny little lady with a smile that could light up a room...or an entire community.
BONALY, 92, died Jan. 21 following a lengthy illness. She will be remembered for that smile, her quick wit, and for the helping hand she lent to many community events and activities.
She was born Feb. 18, 1911 in Audrain County, Mo. to Hollie and Nora BARNETT. Karleen graduated from high school in Leavenworth, Kan.
On Oct. 24, 1932 she married Verne BONALY in Leavenworth.
They were an adventurous couple, recalls her nephew, Jack JEWETT and his wife, Sherrie, of St. Joseph, Mo. They recall that when she was young, Karleen and Verne would ride motorcycles...sometimes facing backwards. They also did some flying together.
"She was brave. They had a good time, doing crazy things," says Jack JEWETT. The couple shared an awe of the mountains, and in 1963 they moved to Eagle, where Verne worked for the Civil Air Administration (now the FAA) and did odd jobs such as plumbing and electrical work. Verne died in Red Cliff on Jan. 11, 1969.
Prior to moving to Eagle, Karleen worked as a secretary for a barrel company in Kansas, and worked at various other jobs. In Eagle, she worked for the county assessor's office until her retirement in 1976.
The petite woman--less than five feet tall-was an avid birdwatcher, and also an expert at identifying wildflowers; although her favorite flower was the very domestic pansy.
Karleen was an accomplished fly fisherman, and would often pack up her gear and head up the creek with friends. Virginia Thompson often accompanied her on fishing trips. Friends recall that while Karleen was adept at catching fish, she did not like to eat them.
"She loved the mountains...she was just awed by the mountains," recalls JEWETT. She loved any excuse to get up to the mountains: fishing, a hamburger fry, or just an opportunity to relax. His aunt never failed to comment on how beautiful the mountain scenery was, or how lovely the wildflowers were.
Patty GIBBONS of Eagle is a couple generations younger than BONALY, but she was drawn in by that ready smile and those twinkly eyes the first time she met her. At the time, GIBBONS was working at Colorado mountain College, and BONALY was a part of the cheerful, chatty senior citizen aerobics class.
One of the things GIBBONS admired about BONALY was her independence. A widow for many decades, BONALY had a big circle of friends to fall back on; and she kept busy with volunteer work. She was a member of the Methodist Church chime choir, and volunteered many hours at the senior center and on church fund-raisers such as the homemade chicken and noodle supper. When the noodle dough wasn't the right degree of stiffness, she would throw it right back at the volunteers who had been kneading the flour, recalls her friend and long-time neighbor, Ella BINDLEY.
"She was always cheerful. She could always crack a little joke about anything. She smiled even up to the end," says BINDLEY.
Then there were the card games. Karleen could play just about any card game imaginable, and she was good.
"She was an ace at cards. The only times I won were because she maybe let me," recalls GIBBONS. They played cards up to two weeks before BONALY's death...and she still won.
BONALY loved to garden, and always had a neat little vegetable patch. She shared her produce with neighbors with characteristic generosity.
The JEWETTs recall that BONALY was a fabulous cook When she went to Missouri to visit she'd often bring along a homemade treat, such as chokecherry jelly. She particularly enjoyed eating tomatoes grown in Missouri, claiming they were the best.
Last summer, Karleen was one of several ladies dubbed "The Golden Girls" who were honored as grand marshals of the Flight Days parade for their many years of public service. Despite being somewhat frail from continuing complications related to a broken hip, BONALY gamely pulled together a hillbilly costume and rode on the float with her cohorts. Predictably, she was smiling with the best of them.
As her health grew more frail, her friends took to stopping by her house daily for coffee and visits. She loved the visits, but was not inclined to let her friends do a lot of work.
"She was very independent. She was just a person that buckled down and took care of herself," says BINDLEY.
Neither friends nor relatives can remember her being out-of-sorts. They do remember her warmth and her laughter.
"She was marvelous. She was my favorite aunt. I loved her the best of all my relatives," says Jack JEWETT.
"We'll all miss her," says BINDLEY.
Services for Karleen BONALY were held Tuesday evening, Jan. 27, at the Eagle Methodist Church. She is survived by her nephew, Jack JEWETT and wife Sherrie of St. Lewis, Mo.; a great nephew, Jason JEWETT and wife Amber of Joplin, Mo.; and countless friends.
The family asks that donations be made to the Community United Methodist Church of Eagle Valley, Box 546, Eagle, Colo. 81631.
Eagle Valley Enterprise - January 29, 2004
KARLEEN BONALY'S LIFE LIKE A BLOOMING FLOWER.
All of the best ones seem to be leaving us.
I've been to more local funerals in the past few years than I care to count. Every one of those services honored somebody who played a major part in making this small-town community the pleasant place it is.
This week, the memorial service was for Karleen BONALY. Rev. Pete MEESE did an excellent job eulogizing the sweet little woman who was so much a part of many community events, as did her many friends and relatives who shared stories and memories. A particularly charming aspect of the service was a tribute by the chime choir, of which BONALY had been a member. They played one of her favorite songs, the softly ringing tones as sweet as the lady they were honoring. The mourners listened, and remembered the little woman they loved.
For the more than 30 years I've been here, Karleen was always part of the picture, smiling and joking as she dished up chicken and noodles at a church fund-raiser or keeping up lively conversation during a bird-watching outing.
For a dozen years I was her neighbor, living on the opposite end of that block on McIntire Street from her. She was quick to share the bounty of her vegetable garden. The broccoli and cauliflower were delicious.
One Christmas season, probably about 20 years ago, Karleen telephoned and invited me to an afternoon Christmas gathering she was having for the neighborhood ladies. I was flattered to be included. Figuring that the event would involve about an hour's worth of nibbling cookies, drinking punch, and chatting, I arranged for my husband to stay home with our then-toddler kids, and headed to the party.
The gathering did indeed involve cookies, punch and chatting with some of my favorite ladies in town. After an hour, I started murmuring my thanks, and got up to leave.
Karleen called me a "party pooper,' and urged me to stay for some games. I did.
Out came the card tables, the cards, and some dice. The ladies, all of whom were competent card players, introduced me to a fast-moving, easy-to-learn game that involved a bit of gambling.
They had no tolerance for cowardly players. When I hesitantly made a rather conservative bid, the ladies, led by the smiling Karleen, made clucking chicken noises at me.
It was a blast. When the final hand was dealt, three hours had passed. My husband and kids were wondering just what was happening at that ladies' tea party that was taking so long.
The party was typical of Karleen. Pleasant, cheery, and a lot of fun.
Ten years later, when we moved to a new house a few blocks away, Karleen was one of the first people to show up on my doorstep.
She was carrying a pot containing a flowering plant she had dug up out of her own garden that she wanted to share with me. It was a phlox, a common, but pretty flower that blooms clusters of white flowers late in the summer, making everything else in the garden seem a little dull. That bright-blooming, cheery blossoms were kind of like Karleen. For 14 years, my husband and I have referred to that flower as "the Karleen BONALY plant." We've divided it up numerous times, spread it at various locations around our yard, and shared it with friends.
We'll be thinking of Karleen when that plant blooms next August.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3C - January 25, 2004
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel page 3C - January 25, 2004
