Bonnie White Stembridge

Bonnie White Stembridge of St. Simons Island was born more than 100 years ago on November 15, 1921 in the Klondike community of DeKalb County, where she grew up with her younger sister, Barbara, and her parents, George Bond White and Myrtle Leftwich White. She attended elementary school in a one-room schoolhouse in Klondike and high school in the nearby town of Lithonia. She graduated from Lithonia High School.

In Lithonia, she met James Wesley Stembridge, an architect and co-owner of the local lumberyard. The two were wed in South Carolina in 1938, which marked the beginning of a happy life together that lasted until Jim’s passing 55 years later, in 1993.

For most of her life, she lived in Lithonia. She was a devoted wife, loving mother to her three children, and full-time homemaker. After her children were grown, she embarked on a new career as an advertising representative for an ad agency in Atlanta.

In 1997, she moved to St. Simons Island to live across the street from her daughter and son-in-law and a short distance from her sister. A lifelong Christian, she quickly found a home at First Baptist Church of St. Simons, where she was active in her Sunday School class and attended regularly until her later years. When she was no longer able to drive to church, she stayed connected by listening to the weekly sermons and receiving visits from the pastor and friends of the church.

She passed away February 10, 2022. Preceding her in death is her husband, James Wesley Stembridge; her eldest son, William Edward “Edd” Stembridge; and one great-grandson, Kurt Mitchell Anderson. She is survived by her daughter, Anne Marie Stirewalt of St. Simons Island, and her son James Robert Stembridge (Hanna) of Vienna, Austria; seven grandchildren; fourteen great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren. Her sister, Barbara White Hill of St. Simons Island, passed away on February 12, 2022 at the age of 91.

A visitation will be held Friday, February 25, 2022 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home in Brunswick. A celebration of Christian life will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, February 26, 2022 at the First Baptist Church of St. Simons on St. Simons Island.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to First Baptist Church of St. Simons, 729 Ocean Boulevard, St. Simons Island, Georgia 31522 or to Hospice of the Golden Isles, 1692 Glynco Parkway, Brunswick, Georgia 31525.