Bonnie Carol Rohr

Bonnie Carol Rohr, age 65, passed on to her new life on July 24, 2013. She was born on July 20, 1948 in Fort Dodge, Iowa to Opal Irene and Eldon Franklin Widlund. She was the middle daughter of a farming family in Manson, Iowa. Her sisters Elda and Jane would often make paper dolls with houses that would fill several rooms.

Bonnie attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa where she met her husband Richard Rohr, who was a student there. They were married during a blizzard on December 22, 1969. Soon after followed the births of their two children, daughter Shannon and son Todd, who were the joys of her life. They moved from Iowa, to Minnesota then Colorado and back to Iowa again over several years. In 1980, with two children in tow, they settled in Barrow, a small Eskimo village on the North Slope of Alaska.

In 1995 Richard and Bonnie semi-retired to Eagle River in the southern part of Alaska. There they lived in a beautiful chalet home on a hillside overlooking the Cook Inlet and picturesque Sleeping Lady Mountain. They had many wonderful and cherished friends, especially at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Chugiak.

Though Richard and Bonnie believed they would never leave Alaska, in 2011 they began to search for a warmer place to live out their years together. They decided on Grants Pass, Oregon, partly because of the slogan 'It's the Climate!' on the main street. They were welcomed warmly in to St Paul's Lutheran Church and soon had many dear friends. Bonnie also joined the local PEO chapter to help women in their education, which she was very proud of and enjoyed. She most loved music, singing, painting, and gardening and was extremely talented at all of them.

Bonnie was married to her soul mate Richard for 43 wonderful years. Family was the most important treasure to her, especially her children, whom she loved with a fierceness that only a mother could. She was Shannon and Todd's protector and champion. She was kind and supportive to all her friends and family, always with a beautiful smile and words of encouragement.

She was survived by her husband Richard, her children Shannon and Dennis of Sydney, Australia, son Todd of Anchorage, Alaska and siblings Elda and Jane.