Obituaries : Bonnie Belle Fett

Bonnie Fett was a cosmopolitan woman: she was born NORTH of Urbana; raised SOUTH of Urbana, in Red Brush; lived IN the city of Urbana, to attend and graduate from Urbana High School in 1938; and spent the majority of her life farming with her husband Lorenz two and a half miles EAST of Urbana, on Honey Hill. She loved Urbana. Her husband Lorenz once joked that Bonnie believed that those from Urbana who went to Heaven when they died had to be chained down to keep them from returning. He was kidding. We believe she is reunited with Lorenz and has found a place in Heaven close to the feet of Jesus, her Lord and Savior. Bonnie Belle Ferguson was born on August 26, 1920 and died late January 28, 2018, at the age of 97 years, 5 months and 2 days. She lived a long life and spent her time wisely and well. Even on the late afternoon on the day before her death she awoke from her dreams, opened her eyes and, recognizing her family, smiled a beautiful smile and said, "I love you." And that was right and fitting, as was her death day falling on a Sunday. She had a wonderful sense of humor, she smiled widely and often, and loved all people, big and small. She knew that the Lord God made them all. She attended church, the Urbana Christian Church, almost every single Sunday of her life when she was able--and if she was unable it was a cause for real concern--but she rarely if ever judged those who didn't go to church. No one ever had to tell her to treat all persons with love and respect. To Bonnie, being a Christian was something you did seven days a week, not simply on Sunday. Perhaps Bonnie's greatest enjoyment in life came from her devotion to family. She is survived by her daughter, Luana White and husband, Marlyn, of Shellsburg, and her son, Lorenz Jr. (Larry) and wife, Ngochuyen, of Saint Paul, Minnesota; five grandchildren, Brian (Kris) White of Atkins, Ronda (Todd) Wiley of Urbana, Robyn (David) Tschantz of Collins; Barry (Dianna) White of San Antonio, Texas, and Cora Fett of Saint Paul; 12 great-grandchildren, Taylor, Lauren and Jacob Wiley of Urbana; Hannah, Elizabeth, Andrew, Sarah, Abigail and Samuel Tschantz of Collins; and Sydney, Olivia and Isabelle White of San Antonio, Texas; and many other wonderful relatives. Her parents, Clarence (Pappy) and Sylvia (Syb) Ferguson predeceased her as did her loving, laughing siblings, Ruby Ashlock, Jerry Ferguson and Bob Ferguson. She proudly claimed membership in not one but two Ferguson clans and attended well over a hundred of their reunions throughout her life. Bonnie enjoyed the type of life with her husband Lorenz that all couples wish they could have. While money may not have always been plentiful, their house on the hill overflowed with love and their kids never realized how lucky they had it growing up with two persons perpetually happy and in love till much, much later. Yet the tragedy is that Bonnie spent the last twenty-five years of her life without her beloved Lorenz, who died in January 1993. She missed him every hour of every day but refused to live a life of sorrow and regret, instead spreading her joy in the lives of her family, living at times with both her son and daughter who were lucky to have their mother with them in middle age still teaching them the lessons of life that we often cannot or will not learn without a wise parent's guidance. Lucky to have her, but feeling the loss of the one person who has been our guiding light for our entire lives, never ceasing in love, we will miss you until we, too, may with God's will and blessing be together once again. Visitation: 4 pm to 7 pm Friday, February 2nd at Van Steenhuyse-Russell Funeral Home, 1212 1st Ave, Vinton. Funeral services: 10 am Saturday, February 3 at the Urbana Christian Church with Pastor Ryan Daisy officiating. Burial: Urbana Cemetery. Memorials should be given to the Urbana Christian Church. Condolences may be left at www.vsrfh.com. Please join us in celebrating the life of this good woman.