Bernice "Bonnie" Eleanor Hegge

Remembering Bernice “Bonnie” Eleanor Hegge

 

Bernice “Bonnie” Eleanor Hegge peacefully passed away to her rest at 3:50 am on Thursday, October 30, 2025 at the age of 83-years-old. She was born April 21, 1942 to Palmer Theron Hegge and Mavis Almeda Eleanor Gustafson Hegge in Stewartville, Minnesota. Bonnie’s mother had lost her first-born, a baby boy named Paul Maynard born June 16, 1939 and died June 17, 1939. She had several miscarriages before Bonnie was born in 1942. Her father Palmer was disappointed that Bonnie wasn’t a boy and the couple divorced in 1943.

 

Mavis took her lovely baby girl and moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota to live with her brother Harold and his wife Muriel who had three children of their own Elsie, Irene and Lyle. Mavis and Bonnie lived in the upstairs bedroom of their small home in south Minneapolis.

 

The country was in the middle of World War II and the Defense Industry was in need of skilled workers. Mavis wanted to do her part and applied at the Ford Motor Plant in St. Paul as a machinist. The plant manufactured M-8 and M-20 6-wheeled Armored Cars for the military. As part of the test, she was asked to machine a steel hammer out of a block of steel, which she did. Her supervisors were so impressed they hired her. Her Great-Great niece Mavis Doeun who was named after Mavis is in possession of that hammer.

 

Mavis also worked at the Honeywell Plant in Minneapolis that produced the Top Secret Norden Bombsight for the Military’s daylight bombing campaign. Mavis was recognized by her superiors’ for having zero defects in the assembly.

 

Shortly after the war ended in August, 1945 and the men returned from overseas the women working in the Defense Industry lost their jobs to the returning men.

Mavis switched gears and moved into education. She and her daughter Bonnie moved to Winona, Minnesota where Mavis attended Winona State College where she graduated with a BA and MA in education. She dedicated her life to teaching children.

 

One of her hobbies was genealogy and tracing her ancestors. Mavis found that she is the 6th generation from John Foster born in 1731 in Maryland. He was a

Methodist Preacher and farmer. He would fight for the Nation’s Independence in the Revolutionary War. He joined the cause in November 1775 with Captain Peter Mantz’s Company of Frederick County, Maryland. John was with General George Washington at Valley Forge and fought in the many battles that followed. He would serve until the war ended in September, 1783.

 

Bonnie also loved teaching and genealogy. She graduated from Hamline University in St. Paul Minnesota in 1964 with BA in Education. She also did graduate work at Greely, Colorado. Her first job was teaching elementary school in Arvada, Colorado. Where she met her lifelong friend Deanna Alderman who also taught in Arvada. The two enjoyed photography and traveling. Over the next 55 years they would travel the world and take photos of their trips which included Africa, the Far East, Antarctica, and Cambodia and many other places. Deanna was a dear friend and remained a dear friend until Bonnie’s passing.

 

Bonnie’s love for genealogy lead her to Australia where she searched out and found members of the Foster family. This section of the family emigrated from England to New South Wales (later to become Australia) instead of the New England colonies. She continued to correspond with them.

 

Bonnie had an apartment in Arvada where her cousin Grant Kruger visited her in 1972. When her mother retired from teaching in Winona, Minnesota she moved to Colorado to be close to Bonnie, and bought a house in 1974 in Arvada where they had a wonderful life.

 

During the summer months the two would travel all over the world. Trips included England, Norway, the Far East, Egypt, and visiting family in Hawaii. These travels would continue until Mavis’s death in 2004.

 

Bonnie was very active in the community, she volunteered with the Denver Zoo, the Colorado Symphony, Books for Africa and many more. She was a big supporter of education and would contribute yearly to Hamline University. She traveled to Minnesota yearly to attend the Hamline University President’s Dinner in the fall. She would always stop and visit cousins Jeff Gustafson and family in Rochester, Grant Kruger and family in St. Paul, Elise Hall and family in Edina, Lyle and Bev Gustafson and family in Paynesville.

 

In February 2024 an evening at the Symphony was planned with friend Deanna. When Bonnie did not show up Deanna became worried and called the Paramedics. When they arrived, they found her passed out on the floor. She would spend the spring and summer in an assisted living facility close to home. Family encouraged Bonnie to move to Minnesota to be close to family. She insisted that she wanted to return to her beloved home that she and Mavis had lived.

 

Her health deteriorated over the next year; in May 2025 she was diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 colon cancer. The next months were difficult. She was admitted to Denver Lutheran Hospital on October 22, 2025. Cousin Grant Kruger was notified by the hospital and he and his wife Nancy flew out to be with her and spend their last days together. On October 27 she was transferred to Denver Hospice where she remained until her passing at 3:50 am on October 30, 2025 Bonnie passed peacefully away in her sleep.

 

Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents and brother. She is survived by many cousins.