Bonnie Ruth Kingsbury

Bonnie Ruth Kingsbury, departed this world on February 13th, at age 80. She is survived by her daughter Kelly Butler (Pat), son John Kingsbury, granddaughters Lexie Carlson-Wheat (Kurt), Katie Wheat, and Violet Kingsbury; her brother Butch Bunn (Suzy); and brother-in-law David Kingsbury (Barbara). Bonnie is remembered for her intelligence, beauty, generosity, and devotion to family. Everyone who knew her also knew she also had a good radar for bullshit, and didn’t take it from anyone. It served her well throughout her life and especially in parenting teenagers, much to the chagrin of her children. Bonnie’s vocation was writing and teaching. She was a freelance writer and a substitute teacher in high school and later taught journalism for the Defense Information School (DINFOS) at Ft. Harrison. Having grown up in a military family, she had a soft spot for students who were far from home, and often invited them to the Kingsbury home for Thanksgiving. She later took a position as a journalism professor at the University of Indianapolis. Students knew she set the bar high and expected the best from them, and described her as tough but fair, always willing to give extra help to those that sought it. Bonnie maintained a curiosity and interest in learning new skills and meeting new people until the very end, saying, “I am not your typical old lady.” She was a voracious reader and loved to tend her flower gardens. Bonnie loved a good game of cards, and more recently, of the dice game Mexican Train. She was super competitive and known to talk smack and tell you how quickly she was going to beat you, too. She was immensely accomplished at needlepoint and enjoyed her time “stitching and bitching” with her friends of many years. Bonnie also loved going out to eat for a good steak and a rum and coke. Christmas was her favorite holiday, and she went to great effort to make it special for her family. She baked egg casseroles for brunch and served it on Christmas china; she picked the perfect gifts for all and wrapped them with handmade bows; and baked dozens and dozens of different varieties of Christmas cookies. Her granddaughters have special memories of visiting her and grandpa for sleepovers, where they watched movies and ate snacks, and they loved swimming in the pool then having Mimi/Grandma’s special root beer floats. Bonnie loved to take them to Barnes & Noble to pick out books, and one granddaughter is proud to say that she introduced Mimi to vanilla bean Frappuccino’s at the Starbucks there. Bonnie enjoyed taking them to lunch or shopping, and having “chitchats” with her granddaughters. They knew she was always interested in what was going on in their lives. She also shared her love of Elvis with them, putting on his music, singing and dancing and teaching them the words. In lieu of a funeral or celebration of life, Bonnie’s family would love for anyone who was lucky enough to spend time with her to share their memories or photos, so they can be collected into a memory book for future generations of the family. You may contact Kelly Butler at kellybutler317@gmail.com for ways to send those memories and photos.

Tributes

Bonnie Ruth Kingsbury

February 21, 1944 - February 13, 2025