Bonnie Jean (Buck) Walley
1923-2013
Bonnie Jean (Buck) Walley, 90, Cameron, Missouri died Sunday, September 22, 2013 at a healthcare facility in Cameron, Missouri.
She was born September 19, 2013 to Leo and Hazel (Heinz) Buck in Amity, Missouri.
Bonnie graduated from Maysville High School (the best class ever to leave Maysville High School) in 1940, and then attended Johnson School of Business in St. Joseph, Missouri. From January 1941 to February 1942 she worked for the Soil Conservation office in Maysville, Missouri.
Then came Pearl Harbor and the quiet ways of country and small town living changed. The boys went off to war. The girls went to work in defense plants and became involved with other wartime activities. She received a Civil Service appointment with the Veteran’s Administration in Washington, D.C. in February of 1942 and rode a train for the first time halfway across the United States. After working in D.C. for a few months, the insurance division she was in was transferred to New York City.
When “The Fleet Came In,” a co-worker’s younger brother came to see him and she met Harold Walley of the United States Navy. There must be something to the saying “There’s Something About a Sailor.” They were married March 25, 1943 in the “Big Apple.” He preceded her in death October 3, 2004. For the next four years they found themselves moving up and down the east coast. They went to Boston for the winter and to Florida for the summer.
With the end of the war, they finally settled down in good ole’ St. Joseph, Missouri. Harold started working as a pressman at the News Press and they also decided to start a family. Harold Douglas was born March 22, 1947 and Timothy Lance, July 14, 1948. For the next few years she managed to keep herself occupied as a full-time housewife and mother, Sunday school teacher, Sunbeam choir director, PTA room mother, Cub Scout den mother, Little League rooter, etc.
Soon the boys were going away to college and she was going back to work at The Methodist Medical Center in the Medical Records Department. She became a supervisor of Coding and Abstracting and for the next twenty years she found herself in the world of Medical Terminology, Anatomy and computer statistics. She retired in February of 1988.
They have been blessed with seven grandchildren. They were a source of great joy.
She enjoyed writing children’s stories and song lyrics, making Barbie doll clothes, cross-stitching, flower gardening, watching wildlife, clouds and sunsets, and traveling. She collected Precious Moments figurines. She was a member of Cameron United Methodist Church and formerly attended Brookdale Presbyterian Church.
Bonnie was also preceded in death by her parents.
Survivors: sons, Doug Walley (Beverly), St. Joseph, Missouri and Tim Walley (Nancy), Cameron, Missouri; seven grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; brother, Larry Buck; three nephews; and numerous great nieces and nephews.
Services: 1:00 P.M. Thursday, Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory. Interment Memorial Park Cemetery. The family will receive friends 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. Wednesday, Meierhoffer Funeral Home & Crematory, where friends may call after 5:30 P.M. Wednesday. Flowers are appreciated and for those wishing to make a contribution, the family requests they be made to the Salvation Army. Online guest book and obituary at www.meierhoffer.com.