(Aug. 8, 1922 — Feb. 7, 2010)
Bonnie R. Dannels Shepard Jepson passed away Feb. 7, 2010. She was born Aug. 8, 1922, in Altoona, Kan., the oldest child of Guy and Estella Lewellen Dannels.
She attended Hatler School in Wilson County south of Altoona, Kan., and graduated salutatorian of Altoona High School class of 1940. After graduation she went to Iola and graduated from Allen County Junior College in 1942 with a teaching certificate. She taught school for three years in Allen and Anderson counties.
On Nov. 1, 1941, she married Robert W. Shepard at Colony Methodist Church’s parsonage. To this union were born three sons. Robert W. Shepard Jr. (Billy Bob) passed away at 4 months of age. Terry Joe Shepard drowned May 30, 1960, at age 12 years. Gary Ray Shepard was killed in a truck accident April 16, 1980, at 29 years of age. Her husband, Bob Shepard, passed away Jan. 5, 1976. They lived on a farm southwest of Colony for 30 years.
On May 18, 1979, Bonnie married Stanley R. Jepson in Miami, Okla. They lived in Mildred, Kan., until August 1989 when they moved to Iola. Stanley passed away Jan. 11, 1999.
Bonnie was a member of First Baptist Church in Iola, Kan., the Kincaid Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary and was past president of the V.F.W. Auxiliary for two terms. She was also a member of the Goodwill Club.
Bonnie leaves behind a grandson, Gary Ray Shepard and his wife, Carrie, Greeley, Kan., and a granddaughter, Traci Shepard Froelich and husband, Larry, of Bolivar, Mo. Also surviving are the light of her life . . . great-grandchildren, Brittney Donna-Nicole her “sunshine girl” of Springfield, Mo., Johnathon Tyler and Justin Robert of Bolivar, Mo., plus two special children that were like grandchildren to her, Dylan Lee of Greeley and Lauryn Grace Lorimor of Bolivar, Mo. Also surviving are two brothers, Dick Dannels and his wife, Karen, of Independence, Mo., and Jerry Dannels of Toronto, Kan., several special nieces and nephews, her best friend, Ann Heinlein, of Iola and other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her two husbands, her children, her parents, brother, Robert Dannels, and two sisters, Helen Wiles and Mary Ann Waggoner.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, 2010, at First Baptist Church in Iola. Burial will be immediately following the service at the Altoona City Cemetery.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010, at the Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapels in Iola.
Memorials to Bonnie Shepard Jepson Memorial Fund may be left at the funeral home. Online condolences for the family may be left online at iolafuneral.com.
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