Bonnie J. Luce

She was born to Wade J. Canoy and Ethel Rose (Lindley) Canoy in Lebanon, Oregon. They moved frequently but lived mostly in the St. Johns area. She started school early and graduated from Roosevelt High School. After school, Bonnie worked in the local garment industry in Portland under George Marandas and in food service at JJ Newberry’s. She was a supervisor and clothing designer. During World War II she was trained to do electrical wiring and work with crystal radios. After the war she continued in the garment industry, until her retirement.

Bonnie was married to Dick H. Cule (deceased) of Portland, Oregon, April 18, 1942 at the Pioneer Methodist Church by Ross Knotts. They had a son, Robert Micheal Cule. She later married Robert “Bob” Vernon Luce whom she met at the Rockwood Grange Hall on 183rd and Stark St. Robert had a son, Vernon Cleave Luce, from his first marriage. Bonnie and Robert had a son, John J. Luce, and a daughter, Virginia Y. Luce (Tuttle). Bob served in WWII and worked as an engineer at the Portland USPS.

Bonnie’s lifelong hobbies included serious stamp collecting, various handicrafts, trailer camping, vegetable gardening and grape growing. She and Bob were very active in local East Multnomah County politics, including local land use planning. Together they fought incorporation by the City of Portland. Bonnie served as an elections worker/official from her early twenties (circa 1940’s) until vote by mail eliminated the position decades later. Once when cutbacks in law enforcement for East County were announced, she was featured on the front page of the Oregonian with a photograph and story wearing a WWII German helmet and her pitchfork (American Gothic Style) at her front door.

Arrangements under the direction of Lincoln Memorial Funeral Home, Portland, OR.