Bonnie Jean Clemow

Bonnie Clemow

August 24, 1936 – October 9, 2020

Bonnie would tell you, if you asked, that her proudest accomplishment was raising her daughters to be kind, good hearted people who worked hard and raised their children well.

But if you asked Bonnie what gave her greatest joy, it would not have been her daughters. Not at all. Not for a minute. She loved them, she supported them. But her daughters were responsibilities to be faced, aggravations to be managed, and when times were tough – and they were in the early years – mouths to be fed.

No, her greatest joy were her grandchildren, and in most recent years, her greatgrandchildren, Henry, June, Connor and DeLaney. It had been her hope to soon hold her two newest great grandchildren, arriving in the next few weeks. Their parents will no doubt tell them some day about Mor Mor, and all the love she brought into the world.

Erma Bombeck once said that grandchildren and grandparents are united against a common enemy. Bonnie was often the General in those wars, lining up with a grandchild against an exasperated parent.

A kid in trouble with a failing grade, or short on money, or wrangling with a parking ticket, or with the rent overdue, or facing college tuition always knew that Grandma was just a short call away, often with her check book open.

Kevin, in the days after his grandmother died, kept coming back to the word "pivot." He explained that his grandmother would always pivot to support him, regardless of what challenges he was facing, standing by him when he needed it most. A ride home from school. A ride to soccer practice. A sympathetic ear. His grandmother was the one who taught him to drive, then lent him her car for his driving test.

Her youngest grandchild Ben, and the one who lived furthest away from her in Michigan, was often on the phone to her, sometimes weekly to tell her things he did not want to tell his parents, struggles he faced in school and at work. He particularly liked to gripe about his mother. His grandmother always listened. "Grandma was one of the smartest people I knew and she always thought logically so if I had any problems, I went to her because she knew what to tell me."

She liked to worry about her grandchildren – it kept her occupied, and she worried in particular about her only two granddaughters, Courtney and Amanda. They were young and pretty and out and about building their own lives so there was plenty to worry about. Each year, she would buy them AAA roadside service, to make sure neither would ever find themselves stuck on the side of the road.

It was with her grandsons Wesley and Trevor that she shared some of her greatest adventures in her last decade, traveling to remote places like the Caribbean, where they took her snorkeling and ziplining.

And she was extraordinarily proud of Matt, a history teacher currently working on his PHD. "He's a professor," she liked to tell people. "He was the quiet one so we knew he was a deep thinker."

Bonnie died in Fillmore, California at the age of 84. She is survived by her daughters, Lori Brasier, Carrie Broggie and Mary Reeves, her sons-in-law Michael, Scott and Ken, seven grandchildren, four great grandchildren and two grandbabies on the way.

Private burial at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills. A celebration of her life will be held in the Spring, the date to be announced.

In lieu of flowers, please consider contributing to Livingston Memorial Visiting Nurse Association & Hospice at http://weblink.donorperfect.com/livingstontributegifts