He was born on Oct. 5, 1935, at Erie to Clifford Lee Bonine and Ida Nona (Pierce) Bonine. He grew up and attended school at Erie and Parsons, where he graduated from Parsons High School in 1953.
Following high school, he entered the U.S. Army and served for 22 years as a drill sergeant until retiring in 1974. Following retirement, he returned to Parsons and worked at the Bush Hog plant at Galesburg and then at Grandview Products until retiring in 2001.
He enjoyed raising quail and fishing. He also loved spending time with his family and his dog, Suzie. He enjoyed watching professional wrestling and football. He also enjoyed tropical fish. He was a Methodist.
He married Belva Darlene Blacketer on Dec. 25, 1961. They later divorced.
Survivors include a son, Virgil Bonine and his wife, Donna, of Williamsburg, Va.; five daughters, Mary Lee and her husband, Charles, of Loganville, Ga., Cynthia Lee and Pamela Dhooghe and her husband, Don, all of Parsons, and Becky Swofford and her fiance, Chuck Hagan, and Sheila Burcher, all of Williamburg, Va.; 12 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; two brothers, Clifford L. Bonine and J. Manford Bonine, both of Parsons; three sisters, Olive Mary Frevele of Tonganoxie, Beatrice Frevele and Margaret Bradford, both of Pittsburg; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by two brothers, Cecil Loyd and Joseph Lee Bonine.
The service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Forbes-Hoffman Funeral Home in Parsons. Burial will follow at East Hill Cemetery at Erie with military graveside rites given by the U.S. Army Honor Guard from Fort Riley. The family will receive friends from 7 to 8 p.m. today at the funeral home, where friends may call after 1 p.m.
Memorials are suggested to the American Cancer Society and may be left at or mailed to the funeral home, P.O. Box 374, Parsons, 67357.
Online condolences may be left at www.forbeshoffman.com.
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