Bonnie Lee Ehlers

On January 27, 2022 our mom, grandma, great grandma, aunt and friend left this earth to claim her new address in heaven. Her unconditional love and joyful perseverance with a life that, at times, was hard will be dearly missed by so many people.

Bonnie Ehlers passed away peacefully in her home in Kiowa, Colorado with the support of Agape Hospice and her 8 children Pat, (Bill), Mary (Les), Mike (Polly), Lois, Dave (Lea), Linda (Mark), Karl, and Donn (Christeen). She was preceded in death by her parents, Ernest and Mable Burchett, her husband, John, sister, Doris, infant daughter Ann Marie, sons Kenny, Joe and Bruce, and grandsons Kyle and Bruce.

As one of the kindest, gentlest, most patient humans to ever walk the earth, Bonnie loved her 12 children, 34 grandchildren, 63 great grandchildren, 9 great-great grandchildren, niece, Vicki, and nephew, Monte, unconditionally.

Bonnie was born in Limon, Colorado on August 7, 1931 and lived on a small farm with her parents and sister, Doris. The family moved several times and ended up settling in Elbert.

Always a hard worker, she somehow managed to keep her house clean and all her children cared for as she worked outside the home. Her jobs included working at the Kiowa Superette, Bolejack’s turkey farm, Lehrer’s green house, Kiowa Schools and finally as caregiver for 10 years to her husband, John, until he passed away in 1999. One can only imagine the organization skills it took to clean the house, do laundry and make 10-12 lunches each morning before getting yourself out the door and in the car headed to your own job.

In high school Bonnie played the saxophone in a dance band where her mom played the piano in Elbert and Kiowa grange halls. It’s where she caught the eye of her future husband, John, who lived on a neighboring farm in Elbert with his parents. John and Bonnie were married in June 1949. They moved to Kiowa in 1965 to a house on Comanche St. and lived there over 57 years.

Bonnie leaves an amazing legacy to everyone who had the good fortune to know her. A legacy of working hard, accepting life for what it gives you, making do with what you have, not complaining and loving people unconditionally.

Please join us for a Celebration of Life for this amazing lady on May 22, 2022 at 3PM at the Kiowa Creek Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers please consider donating to the Foodbank of Kiowa Creek Community Church https://kiowacreek.org/who-we-are/foodbank-of-kiowa-creek-community-church/ , or the Harvest Bible Church Food Bank https://go-harvest.org/resources/ or the Kiowa Fire Department which were all so helpful to Bonnie in the last years of her life.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.OlingerAndrews.com for the Ehlers family.