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JANE BONIN Obituary
JANE F. BONIN
Died peacefully July 24, 2016 at her home in Washington, DC, surrounded by family and close friends. She is survived by two children by her former husband William O. Bonin Sr.; Knowles Harper and William Bonin; and four grandchildren, Will Harper, Jake Harper, Major Bonin, and Ike Bonin. She was preceded in death by her companion of seven years, Fred Begun. Jane was born on April 3, 1936 in New Orleans, LA to the late Margaret (Knowles) Faust and Henry Faust. Raised in East Texas and West Louisiana, she earned a Ph.D. in English and won the Distinguished Professor Award at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette. After retiring from a career in academia, she relocated to Washington, DC and began work with Government and Consulting Services and then with the US State Department on the staff of the Foreign Service Institute. In 1994, she accepted a position on the Peace Corps staff in Africa, spending two years in Malawi and another four years in Niger where she served as Country Director. A lifelong writer, she published three books of drama history and criticism, more than thirty reviews and critical articles as well as a recent collection of vignettes from her time in Africa, "The Color of a Lion''s Eye." She always found joy in reading, writing, studying French, singing with the New Dominion Chorale, the St. Alban''s Choir and enjoying the many cultural riches of Washington, DC. A memorial service will be held on Saturday July 30 at St. Alban''s Episcopal Church, 3001 Wisconsin Ave., NW. Washington DC 20016 at 11 a.m. A reception will follow. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Alban''s Christ House Feeding Ministry, with which Jane was a volunteer.
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Memories and Condolences
for JANE BONIN
Carol MacCurdy
July 21, 2025
Remembering Jane today and all the ways she contributed to my life. A loving friend.
Carol Marie Maus
July 21, 2025
I still miss Jane very much and think of her often! She was truly a unique and wonderful friend!
Carol Marie Maus
July 21, 2022
I still miss my dear friend Jane! She is irreplaceable! My thoughts go out again to her family on this anniversary of her passing.
Joel Fletcher
July 21, 2022
We miss our beloved Jane who brought so much joy and laughter to our lives.
August 5, 2016
I just found out about Jane's death. I always enjoyed having to call her to ask questions regarding her tax information. Even that small interaction told me she was full of life. Even after the accident that claimed Fred Begun, she was determined to take care of as much as she could herself. I will remember her fondly.
Kathy Bovello
Ann Dobie
August 5, 2016
May light perpetual shine upon her.
Lee Traband
August 2, 2016
Jane was a very special friend, like a sister to me. I'll always remember her as fearless, committed to freedom and well being for all, creative, fun and brilliant. She was remarkably at peace with her illness and with dying, an inspiration to all who knew her.
Donna Mack
July 31, 2016
I remember Jane's kindness when my son Jeremiah died while serving in Peace Corps Niger. She hosted me in her home in Niamey when I traveled to Niger for Jeremiah's memorial service. At such a terrible time in my life she made me feel welcome and comfortable. She was special.
Veronique Weinstein
July 31, 2016
So sad to hear that Jane has left us. What a wonderful, inspiring and loving woman and friend. I will miss you so much. Love to you and to your family. Une derniere fois, je t embrasse. Vero
Vyrle Owens and Jane Bonin
Rand Wise
July 31, 2016
Jane was a Peace Corps administrator in Malawi while I was serving as a volunteer. She was a lovely person with a deep zeal for life, and a top notch conversationalist on a wide variety of topics (I will always remember our conversation about John Kennedy Toole). She helped many a volunteer find their way in a new land and culture. I regret I don't have more photos with her, but I did find this one of Jane and Malawi Country Director Vyrle Owens (no doubt Jane was updating Vyrle on some volunteer's antics). Jane was a good advisor and mentor for volunteers, and the hundreds of PCVs who knew her remember her fondly and mourn for her. My condolences to Jane's family and loved ones; I am sorry for your loss.
Joanne Degeyter Majkowski
July 31, 2016
My condolences to the family. Dr. Bonin was one of my upper level English teachers at ULL. She was always supportive and encouraging of my writing efforts. I have and will always remember her interest in and kindness to me. May she rest and shine in the glory of our risen Savior.
Renee Andrews
July 30, 2016
Jane was a good friends hen we sang in New Dominon Chorale together. I will miss her.
Andtea
July 30, 2016
To the Bonin Family,
My deepest sympathies , I am very sorry for your loss, may the peace that surpasses all understanding helps as you cope with your loss.
Tom Chapman
July 29, 2016
My sincere prayers and thoughts go with Jane's family at this time. Jane and I shared a very special bond since we both grew up the south and both served the less fortunate in developing countries. She served in the Peace Corps the latter part of her professional life and I made a professional career of the U.S. Foreign Service.
No one ever wanted to hear our overseas "war stories" at dinner or cocktail parties so we delighted in regaling our experiences at many lunches at the Bistro Lepic.
We always sat at the end table in the restaurant where Jane, as a Francophile, would pretend that she was in a small French cafe in Paris. She would always kick things off with a glass of French champagne and loved speaking French with the waiters.
During lunch, we loved to play the game of "you top this story" in regard to the challenges and rewards of working in developing countries and helping the less fortunate. Her work in Africa with the Peace Corps was some of the most rewarding and happiest years of her life because she was helping others. Some of her experiences are shared in her book, The Color of a Lion's Eye.
Jane said that as a Peace Corps Director she was always in the public limelight and therefore had to be very discreet regarding her romantic life. However, she said that she managed quite well, especially when the Regional Peace Corps doctor would come into town.
Her spirit of helping the less fortunate through service was also demonstrated by her volunteer work as a cook for St. Alban's Christ House Feeding Ministry which supported the homeless.
The second topic that was always great fun for us to discuss at lunch was our southern upbringing and telling stories about some of our colorful relatives. On the one hand we loved talking about our southern culture and on the other hand we loved making fun of it. We were both strong supporters of human and civil rights.
In regard to colorful relatives, Jane loved to tell the story about her grandmother. She said that she would spend some of her summer vacations growing up at the home of her grandparents, which was in a rural area of Louisiana where her grandfather was a country doctor.
One night while her grandfather was away delivering a baby, Jane was suddenly awakened by the sound of a shotgun. She ran out of the house and there was her grandmother with a shotgun in her hands. She said that she had heard a noise in the chicken house and saw a dark figure fleeing with some chickens in his hands and shot in his direction.
The next morning a man came to her grandfather's office, which was in the home, with a bullet in his leg. Her grandfather patched him up and as he was leaving out of the front door, her grandmother told him that if he ever tried to steal any of her chickens again that she would aim a little higher.
Jane always lighted up the room with her smile, humor, intellect and southern charm. We had so much fun together. I am going to miss her very, very much. God's speed sweet Jane.
Red River Bridge, Shreveport
Jane Van Nimmen
July 28, 2016
We first met the remarkably beautiful and generous Jane in Washington in 2005, and we had only one more chance to see her. She arrived in Vienna, Austria, for a short visit a few years later. She had just sung with her choir in Salzburg, and she was still in fine tune and full of energy as she explored the capital. I shared a given name with Jane and vivid memories of Shreveport, and I regret that we didn't meet in high school. My husband and I know a number of her devoted friends, and to all of you and to her family, we send our deepest sympathy. It was our great privilege to have known Jane, however briefly.
Jane & Armand Van Nimmen
Quawdeicia Storey
July 28, 2016
I had the pleasure of getting to know Ms. Bonin as an employee of her community in Washington DC. The one thing I will always remember about Ms. Bonin is that she was one of the very few in her community that used my birth name every time we crossed paths. I asked her, why do you call me by my birth name? She said "That is the name your Mother gave you", I am going to honor your Mother and use the name she gave you. She would always encourage me to travel, call my mother at least once a day and to have dinner with friends often as I could. I truly miss her smile, her hugs and her voice calling my name. She was an amazing woman to have had the pleasure of knowing.
Janelle & Mark Spragg
July 28, 2016
Knowles, our prayers and condolences go out to you and your family. We are so sorry for your loss.
Howard Blacker
July 28, 2016
Jane was a special person to me and we shared an unusual bond. When I first learned about my potential assignment to Malawi in 2006, I had never heard of the country and needed to go to a map to find out where it was. Just by coincidence that was the same day that I met Jane Bonin. When I told her about my potential assignment to Malawi she told me that she was the head of the Peace Corp in Malawi for several years. With that news, we both sat down for several hours and she shared with me her life and adventures in Malawi and encouraged me to take the assignment. Because of my conversation with Jane, I took the assignment and was thankful to Jane for painting such a positive picture of Malawi and sharing her life there. She even wrote a book about her life and adventures in Malawi and I could relate to every word, sentence, paragraph, page, and chapter. When I returned from Malawi, Jane and I always shared a special bond because of our mutually shared experiences. I will always remember Jane and her vivacious personality and appetite for adventure and life.
Tommy Parrott
July 28, 2016
My thoughts and prayers are with the entire Harper family. I am very sorry for your loss. May your memories of your mother and grandmother live in your hearts until you meet again.
July 27, 2016
Sending my condolences to the family. May God give you strength and peace during this difficult time. Psalms 29:11
Twyla Fultz-Atwood
July 27, 2016
She was my best friend - she adopted me as her Mother. My life was extremely heightened by our friendship. My condolences to all her family ...
I personally took a few days in Anchorage to mourn....
Susan Holmes
July 27, 2016
You are in my prayers Knowles.
July 27, 2016
Knowles, thank you for all you did for your mother, and it was a lot, especially since Freddie's death. I met Jane at a pivotal time in my life when I joined the English faculty in Lafayette, Louisiana, in 1979 and was turning 30 years old. We spent wonderful hours together at her home on Clinton Street. Later even though we lived on different coasts and different continents, we remained devoted friends. Jane introduced me and my husband Tom to Africa and the Peace Corps when we went to visit her in Malawi and then Niger. For me Jane was always a seeker and a promoter of what life had to offer. I learned much from her. She influenced many of my life choices and I find it hard to imagine a world without her in it.
Jean and Chuck Cecil
July 27, 2016
We met Jane when she arrived in Niger as Peace Corps Director, and quickly became good friends. She was a great companion and we will miss her. Heartfelt condolences to her family.
Alicia Kopfstein-Penk
July 27, 2016
Jane was such a lovely and interesting southern lady! I will miss her, her wonderful cooking, her intellectual curiosity, her love of French and her love of music. She often spoke about her kids and grandkids. I know you all will miss her dreadfully. Sorry for your loss. Warmly and in sympathy, Alicia
Bridget Cefalu
July 27, 2016
Knowles, my thoughts and prayers go out to you all.
Darrell Bourque
July 27, 2016
My colleague, my friend, I will miss you. Your fierce spirit is elsewhere now but it shines on us still.
The witty, smart, vivacious Jane we remember
July 27, 2016
July 27, 2016
Knowles, I am so sorry for your loss. Love Dianne Landry Kirsch
Sue Rosenfeld
July 27, 2016
As 'mother' of the 2 chimpanzees at the National Zoo in Niamey, Niger I will be forever grateful to Jane for bringing in some consultants from American zoos to improve the living conditions of all the animals at the zoo. And we had some good times together in Niger!
Jane as we remember her
Joel Fletcher
July 27, 2016
Here is a photo of the witty, smart, vivacious Jane we remember and with whom we spent so many happy hours. Sometimes she would come down by train to spend the night with us in Fredericksburg, and when we put her on the VRE the next morning, in the crowd of commuters she was the only who looked, as I once told her, as if she might be going to Monte Carlo. We will miss her enormously. Dearest Jane,"Our revels now are ended."
Carol Marie Maus
July 27, 2016
The world has lost a brilliant, kind, charming, and unique citizen...and I, the dearest of friends. My sincere condolences to her family and her many, many friends. We all have a big hole in our hearts to fill. Repose en paix, mon cher amie.
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