Bonnie A. Carlisle

On Saturday, December 27th, Bonnie Carlisle, a much loved woman with 109 lives, passed away peacefully while engaged in her favorite activity, sleeping. (Likely aided by her beloved BFF Ambien.)

Bonnie was born in Toledo, Ohio on May 29, 1946 to Ruth and Joseph Getzinger. She was the oldest of 6 siblings. Bonnie graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1964 and went on to marry her best friend Patrick on October 26, 1968. Although they loved to bicker, they also loved to dance together and their love endured for 57 years, in both sickness and in health.

Bonnie was incredibly ill the last years of her life, but she was the energizer bunny and tougher than Mike Tyson. We were beyond lucky to have had her with us as long as we did, but no amount of time with her would have been enough . . . though she gave us enough memories to last several lifetimes.

She had a German temper, which she loved to use on Pat, her husband and the love of her life, as well as anyone who wronged her daughter, granddaughters or anyone else she loved. And although she wasn’t afraid to whip that temper out, inside her teeny tiny body was the biggest heart of anyone you’ve ever met. She was quick to forgive, to love and to worry about everyone. Bonnie may have been frail in the end, but she would’ve moved mountains for those she loved. Her body may have failed her, but her memory and her mind never did. She could make us laugh out loud with her wit right up to the very end.

She worked as a secretary for 25 years for Roadway Express and ran her own business LaDiDa in her retirement, which she preferred to simply give away all of her products rather than sell them. She loved to watch murder mystery documentaries, reality tv and CNN. She was a lifelong democrat and taught her daughter the importance of empathy, kindness and standing up for what you believe in. She could talk to anyone. She could meet a stranger and by the end of their conversation she would know their life story and they would know hers.

She loved to vacuum and loved texting her family and friends reels from Facebook (usually in the middle of the night) . . . and then sleeping all day. She was always cold, but to all those that knew her, knew she was actually always very warm and loved her daughter and granddaughters more than life itself. She was the best mom and Mimi that ever was, and her absolute favorite thing to do was to spend time with her granddaughters. She was the worlds best Barbie and game player.

In her heyday Bonnie was the life of the party; she loved drinking margaritas, toasting with a poem she had written (usually several pages long), wearing sunglasses indoors and belting out the lyrics to her theme song Wild Thing. “Wild thing, you make my heart sing!”. We are all blessed to have had her in our lives and our memories of her will always make our hearts sing. Wild Thing, we will always love you.

We find solace knowing that she is finally reunited with her dad who she has missed terribly since his passing when she was 19 years old. Bonnie is survived by her incredibly devoted and loving, “Saint Patrick”, husband, Pat; absolutely perfect could do no wrong daughter (according to Bonnie), Carrie; the smartest and best son-in-law (according to Bonnie), Josh, who she adored; and the two most beautiful granddaughters in the world (according to Bonnie), Sloane and Dempsey.

A Funeral Mass and Celebration of Life will be held in the near future, of which details will be announced shortly, but plan on services most likely starting 45 minutes late in true Bonnie style.

In lieu of flowers the family requests you make a donation in her name to the National Kidney Foundation, take Pat to lunch, or simply buy yourself something useless on Amazon (Bonnie’s personal favorite) to remember her by.

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