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James Bonham Obituary
PEKIN ~ James Alan Bonham, 79, of Pekin, passed away at 4:24 a.m. Thursday, July 30, 2020 at his home.
Born on Nov. 6, 1940 in Pekin, he was the only child of Clifford R. and Ruth Elizabeth (Tompkins) Bonham. He married Carol Ann Bledsoe on Aug. 28, 1960 in Pekin. She died July 5, 2014 at Lake Elmo, Minnesota. He also was preceded in death by one daughter, Jennifer Ann Bonham.
Surviving are one daughter, Jill Marie (Peter Hru) Costa of South Bend, Ind.; two sons, Daniel Scott (Sherri) Bonham of Devils Lake, N.D. and Michael James (Stephanie) Bonham of Arvada, Colo.; five grandchildren, Garrett (Jade) Bonham, Kyle Bonham, Ethan Bonham, Clare Bonham and Tyler Bonham.
Jim graduated from Pekin Community High School in 1958. He went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Southern Illinois University. From there he went on to the University of Illinois where he received a PhD. In Organic Chemistry.
Upon graduation from the University of Illinois, he joined 3M in St. Paul, Minn. in Organic Research. He was the inventor of 24 patents. Upon retirement, he consulted for Southern Lithograph for 20 years.
Jim loved people and talked to all whether he knew them or not. Jim also had a passion for dogs – namely, black lab retrievers. One of his field champions competed and won the World Retrievers Championship held in California.
In later years, he took up decoy and song bird carvings. He is included in the book "Decoy Carvers of Minnesota" and has outstanding pieces.
Jim's great love was fishing. He and his family spent much time at his cabin in Vergas, Minn.. He also loved to trout fish at the Big Horn River in Montana each year.
Jim moved back to Pekin in 2018. He and his classmate, Beverly Marshall Bernier had much fun together including travels to Florida each winter to visit family and friends. Jim knew everyone.
A celebration of life gathering will be held at a later date. Cremation has been accorded by Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes & Crematory in Pekin.
Memorial contributions may be to a charity of the donor's choice.
The family wishes to give special thanks to Jerry Pemberton for his friendship and continuing care.
To express condolences online, visit www.preston-hanley.com
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for James Bonham
Sponsored by Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes & Crematory - Pekin Funeral Homes, L.L.C..
2 Entries
Gary Olson
January 19, 2021
I was thinking about Jim today, when I was going through my decoy collection and was admiring the beautiful mallard drake that I had purchased from him. I had inquired about him at last February's Minnesota decoy show and was told that he was in poor health. So, I googled his name and was sad to see his obituary. My brother and I spent a lot of time at the MN decoy show discussing our favorite topics of decoys, duck hunting and Labradors retrievers. Oh, what a wonderful man!!! He had evolved into one of Minnesota's best decoy carvers/painters and we were fortunate to purchase several from him. As his family you certainly have my deepest sympathy.
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Preston-Hanley Funeral Homes & Crematory - Pekin500 North Fourth Street, Pekin, IL 61554
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