Beverly Bonde

1952 - 2015

Beverly Bonde
Nov. 15, 1952 – Feb. 4, 2015
Santa Cruz
Beverly Geary Bonde, 62, passed away peacefully in her home on February 4, 2015, of ovarian cancer, surrounded by friends and family, and her beloved border collie, Bella. She is survived by her son, Lee Bonde, of Youngtown, Arizona, her brother, Peter Bonde, of Palo Alto, her brother, Jim Bonde, of Pleasant Hill, her niece, Alysoun Bonde, also of Pleasant Hill, a beloved aunt, Nancy Geary, of Fresno, and many wonderful cousins.
She is also survived by the many close friends she gained in two and a half decades living in her beloved West Side of Santa Cruz and teaching science for 20 years in Watsonville's Pajaro Valley Unified School District, first at Rolling Hills Middle School and then at Pacific Coast Charter School.
Bev grew up in Fremont, California, graduating from Washington High School in January, 1970, where she had been active in stage productions and the marching band, and was a member of Rainbow Girls. A month later, at 17, she married Daniel Tremper, becoming an army wife, and a year later gave birth to Lee on the base at Fort Lewis, Washington.
Divorced a year later, she moved back to Fremont, a single mother, and worked for nine years for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, rising quickly from an order typist to a managing supervisor, but she knew it wasn't the career she wanted. At the age of 29, she decided to get a college degree.
In 1981, Bev moved to Santa Cruz and entered Crown College at UCSC, majoring in biology. As part of an undergraduate Ocean Educations Internship, she led tours of Natural Bridges Beach tide pools and Long Marine Lab, the beginning of her long association with both places. She graduated in 1985 with college honors and highest honors in her major. She went on to graduate school at UC Davis where she earned a Ph.D. in genetics in 1992.
After returning to Santa Cruz for post-doctoral work at UCSC, Bev made another decision that would change the course of her life and bring her immense professional fulfillment and joy. She set about to earn a teaching credential, at Chapman University in Monterey, while pursuing intensive studies in Spanish language courses.
In 1994, she began her career as a science teacher at Watsonville's Rolling Hills Middle School, where she became a migrant education peer coach in the Abriendo Caminos program and chaired the science department. In 2004, she moved on to Pacific Coast Charter School where she was a supervising teacher. In teaching, Bev found her calling and developed lifelong friendships with students, parents and colleagues.
The Santa Cruz life brought out Bev's adventurous spirit. She took up SCUBA diving and enjoyed activities such as parachuting and parasailing. She participated in the Bay Walks program, more than once "circumambulating" Monterey Bay. With various friends or students, she traveled to Western Europe and Ireland, Mexico, Canada, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, Ecuador and The Galapagos.
Bev's rescue dogs were star students of renowned trainer, Kitty Fields, earning AKC Canine Good Citizen honors for obedience. She and her dogs were fixtures at Kitty's classes as examples of proper training, and were frequent guests on Kitty's KSCO-AM radio show, "Animal Talk." Bev's first border collie, Taz, won multiple blue ribbons at the Monterey Bay Dog Training Club's Agility Trials, and excelled at other field work.
Bev loved the local Santa Cruz music and arts scene and live performances of all kinds. She made friends everywhere she went and could be counted on as a date for a movie, play, or dinner. She made room in her life not only for her friends, but for their children, attending countless birthday parties, school plays and graduations.
And of course, she could most often be seen on the West Side walking a 20-year succession of her beloved dogs, from Sheeva, to Pebbles, to Taz, to Bella, along West Cliff Drive and at Light House Field, Natural Bridges and Long Marine Lab. She was never happier than when she was with them.
Pacific Coast Charter School will host a Celebration of Life for Bev in the Board Room of the Eiskamp Building, 294 Green Valley Rd on March 14, 2015, from 1 to 4 pm.
In lieu of flowers, Bev's friends and family have asked for donations to fund a Tribute Bench at Long Marine Lab. Donations may be made to Seymour Marine Discovery Center (please write Bev Bonde Tribute Bench in the memo line), and mailed to Memorial Bench Fund in Honor of Bev Bonde, Seymour Marine Discovery Center, 100 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. To donate by credit card, please call (831) 459-3800.