Bonnie Greenfield Develle

1942 - 2024

Katherine Bonnie Scott Greenfield Develle was born to Hugh and Rose Scott in Ridgewood, N.J., on September 15, 1942, and died at her home under hospice care on March 18, 2024. Bonnie moved to Kingwood in 1975 and taught children from preschool at the Holy Comforter Lutheran Church to Green Tree Elementary school as a teacher and later a reading specialist. She taught hundreds of children to read over the years.

After her own children graduated, she returned to college to get her master's degree in counseling and worked as a guidance counselor at New Caney Middle School and High Schools and St. Martha's Catholic School.

Bonnie was a founding member of St. Martha's Catholic church, taught CCD, and was a lector and Eucharistic Minister.

She used her skills as a counselor at the diocesan level teaching people how to survive the loss of a spouse. Later she volunteered for Project Gabriel and Project Rachael, where she led small group counseling for those healing from having abortions.

Bonnie first met her father at the age of three, when he returned from serving as an army combat engineer on D Day.

She went to St. Paul's Catholic Elementary School, Norwich High School and majored in Elementary Education at SUNY Potstam.

She met her first husband, the late Dr. Gaylord Greenfield, when her roommate booked too many dates for the ice festival. She worked as a teacher until her children, Heather and Scott, were born.

The family moved to Ponca City, Okla., before settling in Kingwood in 1975. She read library books to her children, finger-painted with them to Tchaikovski's -1812 overture and Swan Lake. She taught them to wait out tornadoes under the stairs, and led a Brownie troop and Cub Scout den.

Her children went to Kingwood High School and both graduated from the University of Texas at Austin. Scott served as a Navy officer and Heather became a TV reporter. Bonnie used to joke that one of her kids protected secrets and the other broadcast them.

After receiving her graduate degree at Sam Houston University, she became a guidance counselor at New Caney Middle School. One of her students flagged her down at a football game to sit with his dad. Months later, in June 1996, Bonnie married the handsome pilot, Ken Develle, who she called "the love of her life." Together they volunteered at the Between Jobs Ministry at St. Martha's, where they helped people discover their talents.

Her friends and family appreciated her Irish storytelling skills, and the way the same story may get embellished and change over the years. She had a good heart and sense of humor - though outspoken at times.

She is survived by her husband, Ken Develle; sisters, Peggy Pettingell, Barbara Griggs; children, Heather Greenfield and Scott Greenfield; and four grandsons.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Reading Partners https://readingpartners.org/about-us/

A Memorial Mass will be April 11, at 11:00 a.m., at St. Martha's Catholic Church.