Bonnye Ruth Ridings Peel Lucchesi

Bonnye Ruth Peel Lucchesi crossed over to the next life on June 6, 2015 in Memphis, TN after a long illness. She was born in Arbyrd, MO on October 1, 1928 to V.B. and Mary Ridings. Bonnye often said that she came straight out of the cotton patch. She and her siblings worked on the family farm chopping and picking cotton and doing whatever work needed to be done at a very early age. Bonnye was Valedictorian of the Class of 1945 at Arbyrd High School and was a great basketball player, scoring 42 points in one game. She was recruited at the age of 16 to move to Washington, DC to work at the Pentagon tracking troop movements during World War II. Bonnye moved back to Missouri after the war and married Robert Peel Jr. in 1947. Bonnye and Robert were married for 42 years and had 8 children, 19 grandchildren, and 3 great grandchildren. Bonnye was preceded in death by her first husband, Robert, and her second husband, Vincent A. Lucchesi. She loved taking care of children and was dubbed “the baby whisperer” for her ability to swaddle a crying baby and immediately calm it. She was well known for her beautiful smile, patience, and homespun advice such as “It’ll never be noticed on a galloping horse,” “Is it life or death?,” “Life can still be beautiful,” “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and “This too shall pass.”