Bonnie Lou Okum

OKUM

Bonnie Lou, a vocalist who achieved national stardom in the 1950's by recording country and rockabilly hits, performing on television and radio, died on Tuesday, December 8, in Cincinnati Ohio. She was 91. She was a talented banjo and guitar player who sang and yodeled her way into the hearts of many. Born Mary Joan Kath on October 27, 1924, near Towanda IL., she started winning local talent contests at 15. As a farmer's daughter, with Swiss heritage, she had developed her voice in the corn fields of Illinois. "I would go out after the cows and yodel," she told the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2007. At sixteen, Bonnie was singing on the radio in Bloomington IL. When she was 18 she began performing under the name Sally Carson with a group called the Rhythm Rangers on KMBC in Kansas City. She moved to Cincinnati two years later and began her long, successful career with WLW. This is when she became known as "Bonnie Lou". Bonnie joined WLW-AM, a Cincinnati radio station, in the 1940's and remained with the station after its expansion into television late that decade. She became a regular on "Midwestern Hayride," a country music variety program that was broadcast nationally on NBC. She performed with the show until its final broadcast in 1972. Among her many other performances, she was honored to appear at The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville several times. "We had baseball, apple pie, and Bonnie Lou," said Nicolas Martin in the Bloomington IL Pantagraph earlier this year. Martin has done extensive research on Bonnie's history. Her breakout hits were released by Cincinnati-based King Record label in the 1950's. Her recordings of "Seven Lonely Days" and Tennessee Wig Walk" reached the Top 10 on the Billboard country chart in 1953. Her rockabilly song, "Daddy-O," released two years later on the same label, made it to No.14 on the Billboard pop chart. Bonnie chose to decline an opportunity offered by RCA Victor Records that would have taken her to New York and, perhaps, to greater national fame. She chose instead to remain in Cincinnati with her work family at WLW, her daughter, Connie and husband, Glenn Ewins. Tragically, Glenn died in an automobile accident in 1964. In 2002 she was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. As her long-time friend and associate, Richard Murgatroyd, said at her service, "She could do it all...sing, play guitar, banjo and violin, but she was most known for her yodeling". On a recent visit to Bonnie by Richard and Colleen Sharp, another WLW alum, Bonnie yodeled for them - a wonderful surprise at 91 years of age. Private services were held with family and dear friends. She will be missed and cherished by her second husband, Milton Okum, her daughter and son-in-law, Connie and Edward Wernet, grandchildren David (Shannon) Aston and Emily Wernet, great-grandchildren Andrew and Ryan Aston, her sister Eleanor McConkey, her nieces and nephews Nancy Snow, Linda Banish, Bonnie Ewins and Larry Ewins. Donations are being made to: Ruth Lyons Children's Fund, P.O. Box 59, Cincinnati OH 45201. Mihovk-Rosenacker Funeral Home serving the family. www.mrfh.com