| Notes |
- Find-a-Grave Obituary
Eleanor Belle Bass Bonner
On January 27, 1922, John Lee bonner married Eleanor Belle Bass, daughter of Hosea Batson Bass and Mattie Benton Awalt. She was born in the community of Cade in Navarro County, Texas on July 8, 1902. Eleanor Belle, almost always pronounced as one word, "Elnabel," attended Stewards Mill School, North Texas State Normal, Denton and Belton College, Belton. She taught in the rural schools of Freestone County. Both she and John L. were members of First Baptist Church in Fairfield where she taught Bible classes. They were parents of two sons: Harry Glenn and Bobby Ray. Eleanor Belle belonged to the Fairfield Garden Club, Eleanor Belle died January 17, 1982 after suffering for 13 years with Alzheimer's Disease. She had been lovingly cared for in the home of her son Bobby in Waco. Eleanor Belle is often remembered by the family for her shoes---lace up orthopedics. Pete Bonner recalled working cattle with John L. and that Eleanor Belle packed dainty sandwiches cut into triangles and with the crust removed for his lunch. Would she have been chagrined to know he shared them with Pete and Joel Washington? Very conscious of her community standing and her heritage, her insistence on proper etiquette and manners prevailed. Bobby characterized his mother: "She was Victorian. She was not a yard worker, not a farm worker. When she was growing up at Stewards Mill she refused to even go pick the eggs up out in the barn?." Determined to have the best for her sons, Eleanor Belle saw to it that they both had piano and "expression" classes while they lived in Streetman.
|