Bonita Rhesa (Reid) Gober was born on February 18, 1928 to Martha Ella (Jones) Reid and Julius Ashley Reid in the small town of Tankersley, just west of San Angelo, Texas. She passed away on July 11, 2019 in San Angelo, the center of her life for more than 91 years.
She was married there to James Walter Gober, Jr. (J.W. or Jimmy) in 1947 until he passed in 2007.
Survivors include son James Michael and wife Theresa, their son Bill, and daughter Kriste and husband Chris; son Donald Reid and wife Joy, their son Jon and wife Jeannine, and son Reid and wife Leah; and son Jon Alan and wife Carol, their son Russell and wife Jen, daughter Erica and husband Charles, daughter Keisha and husband Shaun, daughter Laurie, daughter Kelli and husband Scott. Bonnie also leaves behind 15 great-grandchildren to cherish her memory.
She was known as Bonnie, and sometimes as Bounce, a nickname that reflected her attitude about getting things done and life in general. She was a telephone switchboard operator as a young woman both before marriage and after her boys grew older. Barely five feet tall, and not yet 19, she walked the 20 blocks between her parents’ home and work in high heels and was never late.
Bonnie and Jimmy were Charter Members of Belmore Baptist Church in San Angelo in the 1950’s. She was an active participant in the neighborhood near this church where she raised her family, including activities at Bellaire Elementary School. Bonnie had an extraordinary memory for names and personal information. One of her favorite stories was surprising local schoolchildren at a Halloween Carnival by “divining” everything about them while disguised as a “Gypsy Fortune Teller”; they never suspected that she was the lady down the street who knew everyone on the street and many related details as well.
Bonnie and Jimmy started a family business over 50 years ago that is still in the family. They ranched in San Saba County, Texas less than a mile from where her great-grandfather and great-grandmother were buried many years after coming to Texas in the 1850’s. Bonnie’s family teased her about being a “pioneer woman”, but she really was cut from the same cloth as the generous, loving, and hard working people who came before her. Every day, for many years to come, she will be missed by the lives she touched.
Funeral services will occur at 10 am on July 15, 2019 at Belmore Baptist Church in San Angelo, Texas, and will continue thereafter at Lawnhaven Memorial Gardens. Johnson’s Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements.
