Bonnie Sue Holland

Hancock

Bonnie Sue Holland,79, quietly left the party at her beloved Hancock home on March 14, 2026. She was surrounded by four generations of her loving family.

Born on June 16, 1946, in Paducah, KY, Bonnie was the eldest daughter of Henry and Nida (Young) Bichon. She spent her childhood in Paducah and attended Tilghman High School, where she enjoyed being a part of the Drill Corps, Spanish Club, an Office Aide and Student Council, graduating with the class of 1964.

Bonnie married her high school sweetheart, Bill Holland, in 1964. They settled in Munising, MI where they joyfully expanded their family to three children, two cats, one dog, and a rabbit. Following their adventurous hearts, Bonnie and Bill and their three children went on the adventure of a lifetime backpacking through many countries in Europe and Africa for nearly two years, returning to upper Michigan with mostly intact camping gear and extraordinary memories.

Bonnie later continued her education at Northern Michigan University while also raising her rambunctious children and holding a part-time job. With fortitude, persistence and tenacity, she proudly graduated in 1984, magna cum laude, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design. Bonnie created business cards, pamphlets and several Hiawatha Music Festival posters using her Holland Design business. She also held fulfilling careers with Northern Economic Initiatives, Upper Peninsula Children’s Museum and Finlandia University where she was able to help small businesses bring their business dreams to life. Her career and design passions were intertwined with an extraordinary list of community service and town boards where she helped beautify any community or space into which she stepped.

She was known for her exuberant and creative holiday decorating as well as her thoughtful gifts to innumerable family and friends lucky enough to be on her list. She was described as cheerful, generous, curious, reliable, fiercely independent and was quietly the funniest person in the room. Most days you could find her painting or gardening, and sometimes mimicking silly bird sounds, with her puffin call being one of her most entertaining. When you walk into her home, you feel like you are in her own personal museum, with unique art from local artists and artifacts from her many adventures displayed on every wall. For her 75th birthday, Bonnie was joined by her daughters, granddaughters and great granddaughters, for her first tattoo, ‘much love', in her own handwriting, which was a sentiment she wrote on every card. She was proud to live in Hancock and loved her neighbors like family. She expressed aloud, many times, she was most proud of her children, walking 100 miles on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and holding ancient glacier ice in her hands in Iceland. She created and nurtured an amazing life, and we witnessed how much she is loved.

Bonnie is survived by her children Ellen (Lyle) Holland-Perry, Brian (Lisa) Holland and Shea (Jay) Cody. She is also survived by her cherished grandchildren, Jessamine (Frank) Sicotte, Max (Kaylea) Perry, Chace (Neily) Perry, Nichole Wilder, Brian Holland, Payton (Angel) Jaramillo, Sydney Ramirez, William Holland, Carly Cody and Clayton Cody; 17 great grandchildren and 8 great, great grandchildren; her beloved sisters, Katherine (Rick) Goode and Barbara Bichon; many loved nieces and nephews; and by her sweet kitties, Mr. Darcy and Sassy. She is preceded in death by her parents Henry and Nida Bichon, and her great great granddaughter, Deylani Glenn.

A celebration of life will be planned in the spring