Bonnie S. Dahlman |1937-2021|

Bonnie Sue Dahlman, who returned to Hutchinson, after raising a family, working for social justice, and other adventures, died on December 10, 2021, of natural causes. She was 84 years old. 

Bonnie was born in Columbus, Ohio, on September 9, 1937. Her father was Clarence “Carl” Lovejoy East, an insurance claim adjuster originally from Tilden, Illinois. Her mother was Cora May Tague, originally from Augusta, Kansas. They soon moved from Columbus to Hutchinson. 

As she grew up in Hutchinson, Bonnie’s favorite memories included frequent visits to a local chicken hatchery and time shared with the family of Roy and Margaret Dunmire at their farmhouse on Lorraine Street. 

In 1956, Bonnie married an industrial engineering student and two years later, they were living in Newton, Iowa. They had two sons – Steven Ray Dahlman, born in 1961, and Alan Lee Dahlman, born in 1963. 

Bonnie was an active volunteer. She was a coordinator for a volunteer organization that helped the disadvantaged and elderly. She worked on presidential campaigns and managed the campaign of a candidate for the Iowa Senate. She tutored math students at a local elementary school. 

She was a member of the Newton Presbyterian Church, National Organization for Women, and League of Women Voters. 

In 1987, then living in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, Bonnie graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree. 

The next year, she moved to Istanbul, Turkey, where she taught English to engineering students at Istanbul Technical University. She was also a tutor for a family in the Beyoglu district of Istanbul and she volunteered her time to help Kurdish refugees in Turkey. 

By 2001, she had returned to Hutchinson. She took courses from Sterling College in Sterling, Kansas, and Newman University in Wichita. 

Her volunteer work continued, providing clerical support to the American Red Cross in Hutchinson as it responded to natural disasters that included Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Wilma, and the Greensburg tornado. 

As a volunteer for the Foster Grandparent Program at South Hutchinson Elementary School, she helped Hispanic students with English, math, and other issues they had besides schoolwork. 

She was on the Reno County Health Department Pandemic Flu Board and a volunteer for Hospice & Homecare of Reno County. 

She did what she could to advance social justice and was proud to call herself an advocate for civil rights, equal rights for women, and human rights of refugees. 

She was a member of the Partridge Community Church. Most recently, she was a resident of Mennonite Friendship Communities in South Hutchinson. 

Bonnie is predeceased by her mother, Cora, in 1999, and her father, Carl, in 1969. She is survived by her sons, Steven (Carol Pandak) and Alan, and four grandchildren – Ashley Riley, Justin Dahlman, Frank Brown, and James Liese. 

A graveside service is planned for December 22 at 11:00 a.m. at Memorial Park Cemetery, 5905 West 4th Avenue in Hutchinson. Contact Hutchinson Funeral Chapel at 620-662-1201 for more information. A memorial service will be held in the spring.