Bonnie Lynnette (Lashley) Cecil
Feb 11, 1947 - Apr 7, 2025February 11, 1947 - April 7, 2025
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Bonnie Lynnette (Lashley) Cecil
Feb 11, 1947 - Apr 7, 2025February 11, 1947 - April 7, 2025
Place of birth
Palmyra, NE
Most recently lived in
Rapid City, SD
Bonnie's profession(s)
Had an in home daycare, at black hills gold, sdsm&tech.
Bonnie's favorite foods
Lobster, chicken chimichanga , heath blizzard, peanut buster parfait , coconut creme pie, banana creme pie. Taco bell burrito Supreme, cheeseburgers at Hardee's and McDonald's
Favorite bands and musical artists
Lotz of 70s and 80s, old country. Julio Iglesias, Johnny Matthias, stand by me by Mackey Gilley, i pledge my love by peaches and herb, amazing grace, she loved new music on the radio. Loved prince in the 80's, eurythmics , roxette, Linda rondstant, Anne Murray, Pharrell "happy" , Jon baistise, Bruno mars.
Interesting facts about Bonnie
Bonnie loved nothing more than
Traveling to see grandkids
Favorite place in the world
Favorite TV shows
Carol Burnett , golden girls, magnium pi, MOM, main cabin masters. Castle, criminal minds, the mentalist
Favorite sports
Winter Olympics ice skating
Favorite movies
Comedy, mystery
Bonnie's pets in life
She grew up with a horse and a budgie bird and many pets that she loved . She loved her chihuahuas. We had Cash our German shorthair pointer and we had Sanna Anna Banana our Cockapoo. She loved her granddoggos Jordan, Jake, Sherman, Henry and Willa. And for a short time Kiro a budgie bird
Interesting facts about Bonnie
many may not know , she tap danced as a kid, hermom made her dresses like shirley temple. Her dad took her to the local bar and she tapped on the bartop for change. as a cheerleader, she started college for interior design out in Oregon. And she was a hat and hand model for Spiegel catalog. Mom was very superstitious. We knew all the bad luck things growing up. Spring hit and she couldn't wait to wear her white pants! We saw a skit about tight pants and we changed the words to sing white pants. We laughed so hard .https://youtu.be/Nv7Ts4v5_Bs?si=wuf3tlCc-ApXcWnO
Places Bonnie traveled to
Loved to go see family and friends. She always wanted to go to the Florida Keys or Jamaica
Bonnie's favorite hobbies
She used to do macrame, she loved to read romance novels, she did some embroidery crewel work. She doodled and did some drawing and then later in life when dad was doing some woodwork making toys and boxes she would do some toll painting. Bonnie loved doing crossword puzzles and playing games on her tablet.
Bonnie's children
Tonja (Steve) Bailey and Darsha Cecil. She also became a step mom to Paula (Arnold) Terpening -Pitts , Robert Cecil, Steve ( Jill) Cecil and Dawn (Alan) Parker.
Bonnie's parents
Alvin and fern Lashley
Bonnie's superpower
Laughter, she became a mom to many that needed her when she was at the sdsm&tech. Strength. Bonnie had many traumas and heartaches through life that she survived through. We witnessed a new level of strength when she battled cancer, a big operation that had her in the hospital for a month, several surgeries. Hospital staff always loved mom. She was always compliant and just wanted to get things going. Always laughing and joking.
Bonnie's siblings
Joe and Dennis Lashley. Many half siblings we never knew.
Bonnie's grandchildren
Annecy and Siena Bailey. Several steps grands and great grands
Her close friends through the years
Her cousin Kelly Cramblet, her Nebraska bestie Ginger Watson, Judy Schieffer, Shirley Rudge. Sdsm- Connie Whooley, Kathy Schoenard, Lori Zens, Evelyn Walker , Marie Romano
Bonnie's proudest accomplishments
Working her way from custodian to activities supervisor and manager of grubbies gameroom , bowling alley. She planned many activities for non traditional college kids that had their own families. Christmas parties with Santa and presents for their children. Easter egg hunts with an Easter bunny to take photos with. She planned m day and parent weekends. She started a yellow ribbon tree to recognize students and faculties family members that served during desert storm. She was a sorority mother. She often invited college kids either from different countries or just couldn't get home to our family holiday dinners. Always had extra gifts in the closet that we could put under the tree so they had a gift to unwrap.
Bonnie's favorite games
Yahtzee, scrabble, mahjong, find differences, bubble blast, Mexican train, solitare , kings corner, golf card game, crossword
Growing up with mom
We camped every weekend we could. We gardened. We cleaned on weekends while old movies were playing. Shirley temple , Esther Williams, abbot and Costello
Colors and seasons
Mom loved red anything. She also enjoyed bright colors. She was a spring and summer color person. Loved shopping for clothes, jewelry and decorating.
Scent
Mom loved vanilla. Lotions, candles perfume . She wore vanilla fields and vanilla musk. She enjoyed the smell of lilacs.
Places she's lived
Palmyra, Elmwood, Gordon in Nebraska. Corvallis, Oregon. Rockerville, Hill City and Rapid City South Dakota.
Favorite Holiday
Christmas. She loved decorate. She had the "b" tree for bob and bonnie. There were bugles, bows, balls, butterflies, bells. Everything is gold. And buy gifts for people. She had tonja and I tricked into wrapping our own or each other's gifts. She'd have all of Tonja's with red bows and Darsha's with green. Pretty clever. Loved celebrating and planning the Christmas party for sdsm&tech
Actors
Tom Selleck, burt Reynolds, Sam Elliot, Fabio
Sayings
She said words like wash with an r in it. Like warsh. I asked her why, she said it gets the clothes cleaner.🤷♀️ I guess I thought that was a good answer. You know what sounds good about now? A heath blizzard. It's colder than a witches tit in a brass bra. Six of one, half dozen of another
Nieces and nephews
Dan and Michelle Lashley, Jana Darnell, Debbie and Vaughn Sudrala , John and Wendy Wright and many greats
Married to Bob Cecil
They met at Roman's Rondevue , wed Dec 8, 1980, they enjoyed dancing, camping and fishing on weekends, mom learned how to hunt, had large gardens.
Obituary
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YeSxn2Fn4g0&feature=shared
Funeral online
https://boxcast.tv/channel/s96wbbkxzvpqvarl9pqo?b=tmldvkbncqksr28spbzh
Today we gather to honor and celebrate the life of Bonnie Cecil — a woman whose laughter, strength, creativity, and endless compassion touched all who were lucky enough to know her.
Bonnie was born to Alvin and Fern Lashley, and grew up alongside her brothers Joe and Dennis Lashley — and many half-siblings, some of whom remained unknown to us.
From a young age, Bonnie’s light shone brightly. She was a tap dancer, a cheerleader, a model for Spiegel catalog, and even began college for interior design in Oregon. Life called her in many directions, and she embraced each adventure with style, humor, and resilience.
Bonnie met the love of her life, Bob Cecil, at Roman's Rendezvous. It didn’t take long for their hearts to recognize one another. They were married on December 8, 1980, beginning a life filled with dancing, camping, fishing, and endless weekends of joy together. She learned to hunt, grew enormous gardens, and built a life rooted in love, laughter, and hard work.
Bonnie was a proud mother to Tonja (Steve) Bailey and Darsha Cecil, and stepmother to Paula (Arnold) Terpening-Pitts, Robert Cecil, Steve (Jill) Cecil, and Dawn (Alan) Parker. She was blessed with grandchildren Annecy and Siena Bailey, along with many step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nephews and nieces, each one carrying a piece of her heart and spirit forward into the world.
Through every chapter, Bonnie built deep friendships — with her cousin Kelly Cramblet, her Nebraska bestie Ginger Watson, Judy Schieffer, Shirley Rudge, and many dear friends from her time at SDSM&T: Connie Whooley, Kathy Schoenard, Lori Zens, Evelyn Walker, and Marie Romano. She became a second mom to so many students, offering warmth and home-cooked love to those far from their own families.
Her career at the School of Mines was a testament to her determination and heart. From custodian to activities supervisor and manager of Grubbies Gameroom and Bowling Alley, Bonnie poured her energy into creating a community for non-traditional students and their families. Christmas parties with Santa and gifts, Easter egg hunts with an Easter Bunny, Mother’s Day and Parent weekends, even a yellow ribbon tree for families serving during Desert Storm — Bonnie’s fingerprints are on all of them. No one was left out. She made sure there were extra gifts in the closet — just in case someone needed to feel special, needed to feel at home. She retired as office manager.
Bonnie was eclectic, witty, clever, and endlessly stylish. Her favorite color was red, and she lit up a room with bright jewel tones, fabulous shoes, sparkling jewelry, and a vibrant smile. She loved shopping, decorating, and every bit of Christmas magic she could find — because she herself was magic.
But perhaps her greatest legacy is her strength. Bonnie faced heartache and trauma with a courage that few could ever match. And when cancer entered her life, she fought with grace, humor, and fierce willpower — spending a month in the hospital, enduring multiple surgeries, but always winning the hearts of the hospital staff with her jokes, her patience, and her determination to get back on her feet.
Bonnie Cecil was many things — a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a mentor, a light. She leaves behind a legacy of resilience, kindness, and laughter. She showed us how to survive, how to give without question, how to create beauty in everything from a holiday party to the smallest of moments.
Today, and every day, we carry her with us — in the brightness of a red flower, the sparkle of Christmas lights, the sound of laughter around a full dinner table, and in every act of kindness we offer in her memory.
We love you, Bonnie, Honey, Mama. Thank you for everything.
We'd like to thank the hospice nurses and staff at the hospice house, the hospice volunteers, Bonnie's nephew and wife Dan and Michelle Lashley, her neice Jana Darnall, our neighbor Shelley Millar, our friends Sheila Paulus and Lori Zens for all your caring and time.
A Cecil scholarship is set up at the South Dakota School of Mines.
Past ceremonies
Funeral
Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 3:00 PM
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Born on February 11, 1947
Palmyra, NE
Passed away on April 7, 2025
Rapid City, SD