Bonnie Eutiva Dockery

Bonnie Eutiva Dockery went to be with her Lord on Monday, August 19, 2024 during a peaceful sleep in her home at Lenoir Woods in Columbia, Missouri at the age of 91.

Bonnie was the second daughter of six, born in Adrian, Missouri to Ted and Gertrude Van Benthusen. She lived on her family farm until she married a preacher shortly after completing high school. She was a pastor’s wife and mother of two daughters, Vicky, born when Bonnie was 19 years old and Rebecca, born 19 months later. Bonnie and her five sisters traveled to sing gospel songs in churches and camp meetings to worship and share the message of the Lord they all loved. Later, with her sisters on the west coast working in various banks, Bonnie also worked in banking in Missouri for 22 years.

Bonnie’s marriage didn’t last as long as she’d hoped and she became a single mother with a young teen and preteen daughter while working full-time as a bank teller. Bonnie faithfully raised her daughters in the church and taught them to love God.

In 1967, something only God could have orchestrated happened when friends Bonnie knew from church in Raytown, Missouri, moved to Hawaii and met someone they thought Bonnie should get to know. A beautiful love story unfolded when her friends introduced Bonnie in Missouri to Air Force Captain Paul Dockery in Hawaii by way of letter. In October of 1967 Paul and Bonnie started writing letters to each other. It didn’t take long for the letters to be written every day. They fell in love, and on February 3^rd, 1968 Paul wrote a proposal of marriage to Bonnie. On February 7^th, Bonnie wrote, “I was so overjoyed I just couldn’t believe it for a moment, I put the letter down and picked it up again and it said the same thing! Ha ha! I’ve been on cloud nine ever since! I was going to write last night after praying about it and thinking so much about us but decided to wait until this morning to write the answer. The answer is YES!”

June 4^th, 1968 Paul married Bonnie in her home church in Raytown, Missouri, then took her and her two daughters, then 16 and 14, back to live with him to finish his last year of assignment at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.  Before leaving, Paul took Bonnie to meet his family on the east coast. She was especially anxious to meet the two new daughters and son that she now had been blessed with; Paula (11), Cindy (7) and Mike (9), who lived with their birth mother.

A year later the air force assigned Paul to a place where family couldn’t go, so Bonnie lived with her college-bound daughter, Vicky, in Pasadena, California while he completed that one-year assignment. During Bonnie’s marriage to Paul the Air Force sent them to various states and even to Santiago, Chile. She went to language school with Paul to learn Spanish for that assignment. Working there with the U.S. Embassy they met and entertained both Chilean and U.S. government officials.

Paul retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel and they settled in Austin, Texas for a few years. Later they moved to Lebanon, Missouri to be near Bonnie’s daughter, Rebecca, and her children and Vicky’s children. They wanted to be close to Vicky’s children, and later grandchildren, since their parents were serving overseas as missionaries. This also was a mid-way point for Bonnie’s family on the west coast and Paul’s on the east coast. While living there, Bonnie concentrated on her family skills, loving grandchildren, hosting family events and both she and Paul trying their best to be at every important family event to show their love and support.

Everywhere they went Bonnie served alongside her husband in churches and other opportunities for ministering their love for God, usually through song, since God had given Paul an excellent singing voice and love for music. They even helped start a new church in Santiago, Chile where there was a need for an English-speaking church.

In 2018 they moved to Lenoir Woods Lutheran Retirement Community in Columbia, Missouri, near daughter, Rebecca. Bonnie enjoyed life at Lenoir Woods where she was lovingly cared for until she left for her heavenly home.

Her parents, Ted and Gertrude Van Benthusen, sisters Betty Van Benthusen, Mavis Livermore (Tom), Vonda Brandt (Marlan), Thelma Kokiousis (Pantel), grandson, Corey Koshman, and husband Oscar Paul Dockery preceded her in death.

She is survived by her sister, Shirley McManama (Larry), daughters Vicky Gustavison (Carle), Rebecca LeGrand (Roy), Paula Inglis (Mark), Cindy Baber (Bill) and son, Michael Dockery. She is survived by 19 grandchildren, 35 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

A memorial celebration of her life will be held on Wednesday, August 28, 2024, 5:00 pm at the Lenoir Woods Chapel, 3701 Lenoir Street, Columbia, Missouri.