Bonnie Jean (Lee) Whitehouse 1934- 2021

LEE, WHITEHOUSE, FROLAND, NELSON

Posted By: Barry R Huntsinger (email)
Date: 7/10/2021 at 16:13:14

Bonnie Jean Whitehouse, daughter of Ole and Alma (Froland) Lee, was born on a farm in Martin County near Jackson, Minnesota, on July 3, 1934. She passed away on July 5, 2021, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, at the age of 87.

Bonnie moved to Emmet County with her family at the age of three and lived in the area for the rest of her life. After graduating from Terril, Iowa High School in 1952, she worked for Northwestern Bell as a telephone operator for two years. She worked in the Good Samaritan activities department for eight years, playing piano and singing to the residents and she started a choir with them.

On July 26, 1953, she was united in marriage to Robert Whitehouse and was glad to stay at home and raise their six children. Bob died on May 8, 1983. Bonnie married Norman Nelson on July 4, 1994. He died on March 22, 2017.

While in high school, Bonnie loved playing basketball and was later an avid fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes and Iowa State Cyclones. Singing was her passion, she was a longtime member of Country Chords, which later became Many Voices Choir. In her younger years, she enjoyed playing tennis, golf, and bicycling with her children. She enjoyed dancing and when she and Norm were unable to do that, they entertained family and friends by playing cards on Saturday nights for over 20 years. Favorite hobbies were fishing at all the area lakes, reading, and watching game shows. Bonnie was happiest with her family.

Bonnie was a charter member of Redeemer Lutheran Church. She was a former member of the Good Samaritan and VFW auxiliaries.

Left to cherish Bonnie’s memory are her children, Steve (Eileen) of Spirit Lake, Iowa, David (Karen) of Maple Grove, Minnesota, Mike of Chandler, Arizona, Peggy Brashear of Estherville, Iowa; eight grandchildren; eight great grandchildren; stepdaughters, Jolene (Mark) Nelson, Diane (Shawn) Smith, Gail (Wayne) Mathine; five step grandchildren; five step great grandchildren; sister, Arlene Voigt of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma and many nieces and nephews.

Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents; husbands, Bob and Norm; children, Jeffrey and Kathy; brother, Norris and sisters, Ardis Heifner and Orva Kaltved.

The funeral service was held Saturday, July 10, 2021 at the Redeemer Lutheran Church in Estherville with interment at East Side Cemetery in Estherville.

(Source: Henry-Olson Funeral Home, Estherville, Iowa.)