Bonnie Jean Bolton

Bonnie Jean Bolton, 76, a lifelong resident of Las Vegas, New Mexico and former resident of Ohio passed away at her home on January 21, 2024, along with her precious “Darling” her fur baby Mr. Star.

Bonnie was born on February 12, 1947, in Van Wert, to Edwin and Eva Jean (Davis) Bolton. She was raised in Elgin, where she graduated from Lincolnview High School and received her RN in Nursing from Riverside Methodist Hospital. In her early years, she worked at Van Wert County Hospital and was a nursing instructor at Vantage Vocational School.

When Bonnie was younger, she traveled to New Mexico for family vacations where she fell in love with the area. She moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico where she was employed by the United World College, Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute (NMBHI) and Luna Community College. During the time she worked at NMBHI, she started the Red Bucket Campaign (red buckets were placed throughout the hospital to gather donations of hygiene products which were given to patients upon discharge).

She founded El Comedor de San Pascual and worked tirelessly to help feed members of the community. She spent time working in the kitchen, working with the Food Depot in Santa Fe and grant writing to support the soup kitchen. She was involved with the Crop Walk against Hunger.

Bonnie excelled at writing grants to obtain funds and worked with several foundations to raise money to support local Charities. Through the process, she was able to continue to provide meals to the community and assist families who were impacted by the Hermits Peak/Calf Canyon and the Las Tusas fire, relating it to the mission of the Patron Saint San Pascual.

Bonnie was a talented musician and was a member of several community choirs. She took a special interest in the organ at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. She dedicated her time to playing the organ the first weekend of every month for all masses and worked hard to raise money towards the restoration of the organ. Bonnie’s dream was to see the full restoration of the organ at OLOS.

Bonnie is preceded in death by her parents, sister-in-law Shirley Bolton, nephew Douglas Bolton and her two “darlings”, her fur babies Choco-Latte and Audrey.

She is survived by her brothers Jerry (Janet) Bolton, Richard Bolton, Robert (Dottie) Bolton all of Van Wert; two nieces, JIll Mohr and Kimberly Crow; four nephews, Jay, Wes, Gregory and Bradley Bolton; special friends, George, Cathy and Stephen Monroe, and many friends who she considered family in Las Vegas.

Cremation has taken place and a private burial will be held at a later date. A memorial mass will be held at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church 9 a.m. (Mountain Standard Time) Friday, February 9. The memorial mass will be livestreamed on the OLOS Facebook page and/or the website www.oloslasvegas.org.

In lieu of flowers, preferred memorials: the Organ Fund at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church, 403 Valencia Street, Las Vegas, NM 87701.