Bonnie Eloise Churchwell - 1941 - 2019

Bonnie Churchwell passed peacefully at home of natural causes on August 17, 2019, at the age of 78.
Born Bonnie Eloise Fenley on January 8, 1941, in Ransom, Kansas, she grew up on a farm near Alamota, Kansas. She enjoyed her farm animals and playing trombone in her high school’s pep and dance bands.
Bonnie was a tireless advocate for those in need. She and her husband, Jim, sponsored more than two dozen children through Compassion International. She taught English to immigrants through her church’s language school, volunteered in classrooms through the SMART reading program, and served dinner to the poor and lonely through McMinnville’s Community Dinner. CROP Hunger Walk and McMinnville’s City Outreach Ministries were particularly close to her heart.
Bonnie is survived by her husband, Jim; brother, Howard Fenley and wife Peggy of Alamota; daughter, Ann Churchwell of Spokane, Washington; son, Steven Churchwell and family, Crissy, Sarah and Rachel of Yakima, Washington; daughter, Wendy Sagers and family, John, Robert and Thomas of McMinnville, Oregon; daughter, Lisa Bell and husband Wayne of Miami, Florida; nephew, Tracy Fenley and family of Ness City, Kansas; and special son and daughter, José and Maria Recinos of McMinnville. She was preceded in death by parents, George and Clara Fenley of Alamota; sister, Norma Kuhn and family Cleo and Karl of Kansas City, Kansas; and nephew, Robert Fenley of Alamota.
A celebration of life service will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, October 5, at First Christian Church, 1300 S.E. Brooks St., McMinnville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Church World Service at https://cwsglobal.org/donate/.
More details about Bonnie’s life can be found at http://www.legacy.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?mid=8830844.