June 30, 1948 - March 4, 2021
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden passing of Douglas Ervin Bonnett on March 4, 2021. Doug was born June 30, 1948 in Creston, British Columbia to Harold and Gloria (Ramano) Bonnett. He was the 3rd oldest of 8 siblings.
He was not much for school, so he decided he would be better off going out and making money and working with his hands. He started working road construction with JA Moulsen Construction, in 1966 (16 years old) with his brother-in-law Bruce Shephard where he went to Ft. Providence NWT until 1967, then High Level spring of 1968. Deadman Flat working on Trans Canada highway until fall of 1969, moved to Monarch/Coalhurst Highway 3 to Lethbridge.
On October 25, 1969 he married Marlene Parker and lived in Lethbridge where a few months later twins Tracey and Tammy were born in 1970. Moved from Coalhurst to Jasper to build the Banff Jasper Highway. When his dad died in February 1972, Doug decided to quit construction and move to Ponoka and venture into business with his brothers Allan and Jerry creating Bonnett Farms. Then in September 1972 Bryan was born in Ponoka. Then nine years later in April 1981 Heather was born in Lacombe and 3 short years after that in August 1984 Trevor was born in Red Deer.
After 27 years of marriage, Doug and Marlene decided to separate, but never stopped loving each other, they were simply better people apart. Doug was fortunate to meet Nancy Garrett in 1998 and shared his love with until his passing.
Farming was Doug's passion, and he was the happiest working. His work ethic was undeniable. He always worked hard and played hard. There were only 3 excuses for missing a day of work; you are in jail; you are in the hospital; or you are in the morgue. He took a lot of pride in his work, he always stated 'if you're going to do it... do it right or don't do it at all. Doug always stated, "family is where it is at" and he loved farming with his brothers until 2005 when Bonnett Farms was dissolved. From there he continued his farming career with Bauman Farms in March 2005 until 2015 when Bauman sold the farm to Morris Thalen where he worked until his passing.
With all his experience with the road construction machinery, running the farm equipment was a breeze. He was a perfectionist when it came to his field work. He loved seeding, swathing as he always stated that he was the only one could do it properly, because it would drive him crazy if there was row not straight or some grain left standing at a corner after swathing.
As the years went on the machinery become very technical, but he never like to use it. One summer, while working for the Bauman's they purchased a brand-new combine had a GPS that he had to figure out, Doug got a little frustrated, so Doug and Nancy sat in the seat and read the manual and managed to get it to work. He was so proud on himself that day.
In his younger years, he loved to play baseball, hockey, and curling. As he got older, he joined an old timer's hockey team, where he stayed playing for so long that his team bought him a retirement gift to encourage him to finally hang up his skates. Doug always looked forward to our family get togethers at Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our Fathers Day weekends with all the grandkids. He was immensely proud of all his kids and their accomplishments and it made him immensely proud to see how successful and hard working they have become.
He was always quick to tell the grandkids that they had to wear their hats properly and pull up their pants. He was always up for a good game of cards, the grand kids enjoyed teasing him when they played up the river, down the river because when he bet with his "stubby "finger no one was sure if that was a full bet or ½ bet.
He was hard to get to leave the house but if you said Chinese Food he was there. We really enjoyed our trips to Creston BC to visit Grandma Jackman and Grandpa Bill, where he introduced to 8 hours straight of "George Strait". He loved working with wood, and it seemed that wherever we went he would find himself a project to work on whether it was Grandma's deck or Uncle Doug's garage in Lethbridge.
In Dads last years he did not want to leave the farm EVER! Hate to ruin his reputation but he did take Heather and Trevor to Disneyland. I will never forget his face going down "Splash Mountain".
He loved his bankruptcy beer. He enjoyed watching tv after a hard day's work with some of his favorites being M*A*S*H, Archie Bunker, Cheers, and Friends. He had 3 favorite movies: Grease, Dirty Dancing, and Footloose.... Who knew that he was a romantic at heart? There is so much we miss about him but mostly how he loved to push everyone's buttons and his contagious laugh.
Doug leaves to mourn his loving partner Nancy Garrett; his children Tracey (Ernie) Levesque, Tammy (Gregg) Emes, Bryan Bonnett (Tracy Brown), Heather (Chad) Huseby, and Trevor (Leiah) Bonnett; his grandchildren Kenton, Cole, Breanne, Kendra, Gracyn, Luke, Hayden, Sophia, Caysen, Kate, Holden, Coen, and Rhys; ex-wife Marlene Bonnett (Peter Jensen); step-children Darcy (Kara) Cornelssen and family, Amber (James) Martel and family, and Zack Cornelssen; his siblings Pat (Don) Stark, Carol (Bruce) Shephard, Allan (Elona) Bonnett, Jerry (Pat) Bonnett, Sandy (Harvey) Maron, and Rick (Cindy) Bonnett; brother-in-law Vern Maron; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Doug was predeceased by his father Harold (1972), his mother Gloria (2002), his younger sister Brenda (2017), and stepson Richie Cornelssen (2017).
Memorial donations are gratefully accepted to the Alberta Heart and Stroke Foundation.
A Celebration of Doug's Life will be held at a later date. To express condolences to Doug's family, please visit wombolduneralhomes.com
Arrangements Entrusted To Ponoka Funeral Home
~ A Wombold Family Funeral Home ~
Ponoka Funeral Home ~ A Wombold Family Funeral Home