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Obituary For Donald James Bonnett
*Updated service information*
June 26, 1935 – April 5, 2024
Don was born in Killam, Alberta, June 26, 1935, and passed away at Beaverlodge, AB, on April 5, 2024. He was the middle child of a family of 9 & the 4th oldest of the 7 boys.
Don was raised on the family farm at Killam AB. & quit school at 16 to go to work as a harvest farm hand. Along life’s way, he attended the school of hard knocks to become very proficient in several areas- mechanic roughneck, drayman, sheet metal, trucker, catskinner, pilot car owner, developer, & rancher. He apprenticed under his brother-in-law Cliff Calvert and became a red seal journeyman carpenter.
Horses were always a big part of Don’s life. He was a very good teamster. His older brother Maurice ran the farm & looked after the family when father enlisted in the Second World War after already serving in the First World War. Maurice was a perfectionist & expected the same from Don while he trained him from an early age to drive the teams. Once his mother came out to the field to stop Maurice from letting Don drive the four-horse team & harrows at 8 or 9 years of age by himself. Maurice insisted he was capable. His Mother then tied Don to the seat with her apron so he wouldn’t fall off. Later in life he enjoyed several successful years of quarter horse racing & training of his own horses.
Don was a perfectionist & never wavered from his principles & beliefs. He lived by them & tried to instill them in his family. Some were:
You are only as good as your word or handshake.
If you used it, put it back where you got it from and in the same condition or better.
Something we never ever heard Don say was, “That’s good enough.” He believed in doing it properly the first time.
My Donny was the rock in our family, the go-to guy, whether it was for replacing a garage door somebody drove through ‘before Mom got home’ or some help to mend a broken heart. Don always put his family first & loved us all so unconditionally & deeply. It’s such an understatement to say, “He will be missed.”
He is survived by his wife, Verla of 65 plus years, his 4 daughters, Dawne, Babe (Rene), Mona (Wade), & Carmen (Kim), his brother, Wade (Jacquie) & 2 sisters, Bonnie & Dorothy, his 7 grandsons, Denny (Jenn), Dwight (Amanda), Michael, Morgan (Jess), Derrick, Dalon, Alex (Sam) and 12 great grandchildren. He is also survived by sisters-in- law, Leona, Carolyn, Elaine, Karen; brother-in-law, Johnny & many very special nieces & nephews and, by 2 very special young ladies our daughters referred to as the “daughters he wished were his also, “Alice Britton & Joanne Toronchuk.
Don was predeceased by his parents, George & Doris Bonnett, father & mother-in-law, Dave & Marge Henderson, his son Ken, granddaughter Deanna Evans, brothers Maurice, Norman, Terry, Allyn, & Gerald, In-laws- Bud, Dale, Ken, Ronnie, Cliff & Murray, Diane, Colleen, Heather, and numerous nephews, nieces, & cousins.
A Celebration of Life will be held for Don on July 6, 2024 at 2:00pm at Albright Hall, 7.8km north of Beaverlodge on Highway 43.
Care entrusted to Bear Creek Funeral Home 780 830 7742 bcfh.ca
Services
6
Jul
Celebration of Life
02:00 PM
Albright Hall Beaverlodge, AB T0H 0C0
26/06/1935 05/04/2024
Death notice for the town of: Grande-Prairie, Province: Alberta
death notice Donald James Bonnett 26/06/1935 05/04/2024
obituaries notice Donald James Bonnett 26/06/1935 05/04/2024
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Donald James Bonnett 26/06/1935 05/04/2024 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.