Beloved grandmother, exuberant and devoted St. Louis sports fan

“If this world has seemed a bit cheerless lately, one reason is that Bonnie Louise Ferrell departed it on the evening of March 26, 2025,” her family shared. “Known for her ready smile, her sense of humor and of style, and her endless delight in bragging about her family, she had played a lively part in the Claremont Manor community since December 2020.

“Bonnie would be the first to tell you she was no native Californian: born on the 23^rd of December, in a year she has never allowed us to disclose, she grew up in DeSoto, Missouri, where her beloved mother Helen and loving stepfather Norman ran the classiest furniture store in Jefferson County. Bonnie excelled at sports and was both DeSoto High School’s head cheerleader and its drum majorette (requiring a quick-change pause between the end of the second quarter and the start of the half-time performance).

“The first in her family to go to college, Bonnie attended Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau, where she majored in Physical Education, was a cheerleader, and pledged the tri-Delts (of course). At SEMO she met Robertson “Bob” Ferrell, a midwestern farm boy who dreamt of flying jets. They married when Bob graduated. He trained and served as a F-4 Phantom fighter pilot; as they moved from naval base to naval base, Bonnie was the toast of Corpus Christi, Texas, Jacksonville, Florida, and Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

“After returning to her home state, Bonnie raised the best-dressed daughters — harder than one might think in the age of Woodstock — in St. Louis. She continued to excel at the arts of fashion, friendship, neighborliness, and athletics (with the golf and tennis trophies to prove it). She could always talk her way out of a speeding ticket, a useful skill given the amount of time she spent schlepping her children and their friends to cheerleading practice, ballet school, and state tournaments. She was an astute and exuberant sports fan … so long as the teams hailed from St. Louis: the Cardinals; the Rams; the Blues; the basketball Billikens of St. Louis University. (She eventually allowed the Kansas City Chiefs into her personal pantheon.) She leaves behind an impressive and colorful variety of sports fan apparel.

“In midlife Bonnie entered the external work force and, as she had done everywhere else in her life, took it by storm. She quickly became the top-selling sales representative of a large import furniture firm and a frequent flyer, traveling to China where the company’s factories were located. She reluctantly retired in 2018 and at the end of 2020 moved to Claremont Manor, where she could be found learning to paint, discussing current affairs, playing poker (!), and cheering up bedridden patients at the Manor’s Care Center. In other words: she could be found anywhere at any time — except in her own apartment.”

Bonnie Louise Ferrell is survived by three daughters: Lori Anne Ferrell (Claremont); Elizabeth Ferrell Wilson (New York City); and Jennifer Ferrell Lo (Los Gatos, California); five bicoastal grandchildren, Kevin, Emily, Olivia, Caroline, and Abigail; sons-in-law Bill Wilson and David Lo; sister Mary Sago; cousin Linda Dennis; and a trove of devoted friends and extended family.

A memorial service is planned for later this year in St. Louis.

“In her memory, please donate by check to the Claremont Manor Club Staff Appreciation Fund, 650 Harrison Ave., Claremont, CA 91711; or visit Eddie’s Italian Eatery in Claremont on a Friday night, request a corner booth far away from the air conditioner, and order a thin-crust pizza with pepperoni, sausage, and extra cheese.”