Dr. John D. Bonnet, M.D.

Dr. John D. Bonnet, M.D., age 87 of Temple, pioneer hematologist/oncologist who helped guide Scott & White's reputation as a cancer treatment center died Friday, May 8, 2015 in a local hospital. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM Wednesday, May 13, at Grace Presbyterian Church with Rev. Thom Lamb officiating. Burial will be private. Dr. Bonnet arrived at Scott & White in 1958, just as Scott & White had hit a low point. Scott & White was threatened with closure because its buildings along Avenue G were antiquated and substandard. Cancer treatment at the time centered mostly on surgery and radiation - often with limited results. With his leadership, Dr. Bonnet helped Scott & White regain national respect for innovative medical care, especially in cancer treatment. Then, after he retired in 1993, he was one of the charter physicians volunteering at the Temple Community Free Clinic. He became an important advocate for expanding medical services to the working poor and underinsured. "When I joined Scott & White, internal medicine had few subspecialties. Most of us trained as general internists with a special interest in a given area. Mine was hematology, which had just started.... There was no specific subspecialty for cancer or cancer treatment," Dr. Bonnet recalled in 2009. A native of Champaign, Illinois, Dr. Bonnet, trained at Johns Hopkins and Mayo, brought new approaches that included introducing and advancing chemotherapy. He was well regarded as an energetic, optimistic personality in a difficult field. When he joined Scott & White, the use of chemotherapy was in its infancy. Along the way, Dr. Bonnet was on the forefront of developing partnerships with other centers providing cancer treatment, including M.D. Anderson, to create the Southwest Oncology Group. "Cancer treatment became more of a team effort," Dr. Bonnet recalled. "We proceeded with the surgeon and the pathologist to staging with lab and radiology. A treatment plan may include surgery, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. I won't dwell on the bumps in the road. The successes cover up the toxicities, failures and difficulties of the treatments." He and the late John Myers, M.D., (1930-2014) also developed protocols for treating children's cancers and advanced the evolution of Scott & White's Pediatric Oncology Division. Within a few years, Dr. Bonnet and other Scott & White colleagues helped the medical center regain its solid reputation in cancer treatment. "You can't imagine what a thrill it was for this young internist to become a part of the wonderful advances in cancer treatment and to interface with the fantastic investigators who were spread all over Texas and the Southwest," Dr. Bonnet said. Active in national and statewide medical organizations, Dr. Bonnet chaired the Texas Medical Association's Committee on health careers that helped to create the physicians' assistant programs in Texas. Although he was ostensibly retired, he continued to see up to 80 patients weekly at the Temple Free Clinic and served as its volunteer medical director, supervising medical students and up to 14 other volunteer physicians. He also helped form Martha's Clinic, allowing third- and fourth-year medical student to provide care to the homeless. He didn't regret the volunteer hours he spent. "In the practice of medicine, you receive your gratification, your compensation from the patient. All the hugs I get from the people make me go," he said. He also served on the Council on Medical Education and the Council on Health Facilities, as well as the House of Delegates to the Texas Medical Association and the American Medical Association. As a member of the Scott & White Memorial Hospital board of trustees from 1970 to 1993, he chaired the Research and Education Administrative Board, where he was instrumental in crafting the partnership with Scott & White and the Texas A&M University Health Science Center College of Medicine. He was a member of Temple Lions Club and Grace Presbyterian Church. He was preceded in death by his parents, James H. and Ann Bonnet, a sister, Patricia Nissen, two sons, James Vincent Bonnet and Peter Alan Bonnet. Survivors include his wife, Beverly Bonnet, one son, Dr. David G. Bonnet and wife, Tamara of Richardson, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Also surviving is one sister, Susan Jones and husband, Richard of Dublin, Ohio.