MCDONALD, Bonnie

Bonnie Ruth Ellen was born on the 31st October 1920 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.  Bonnie met her future husband, Doug while working in Clunes in 1939 at the Clunes mill.  After the war, they set up a home in Ballarat.  During that time, Doug was in the Air Force, while Bonnie worked on the trams in Melbourne.  They had two children Cheryl & Rodney (Dec).

After doing various jobs, Bonnie started with the Singer Sewing Company and later took over the business.  She did a weekly radio program on sewing anbd used the opportunity to promote her buisiness and to provide information on community events and causes.  Around this time, the business donated an expensive sewing machine to the Kelaston Home for the Blind and Bonnie spent considerable time there teaching people how to use it.

Bonnie was a charter member of Zonta International and was involved in the club for over 29 years, including one term as president in 1984.  She was instrumental in establishing a scented garden for the visually impaired in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens, which became a Zonta project.

For more than 12 years Bonnie supplied both St John of God Hospital and the Ballarat Base Hospital with cushions for mastectomy patients.  She estimated at one stage she would have produced about 20 per month for 12 years, or about 3000 over that time.  Bonnie was also a helper at Wozzles Warehouse for 19 years.

Bonnie died at the age of 92 on the 7th July 2013 and is buried with her beloved husband Douglas at the Ballarat New Cemetery Lawn K Row 28 Grave 13.