Bonnie Heasley

Memorials can be directed to First Presbyterian Church, PO Box 63, Miller, SD 57362

Bonnie Mae Heasley, 87, of Miller, passed away Friday, October 14, 2022, at the Good Samaritan Society in Miller.

Funeral service will be 10:30 a.m., Saturday, October 22, 2022, at the First Presbyterian Church, Miller, with Pastor Robert Brooks officiating.  Visitation will begin one hour prior to the service.  Burial will be at Morningside Cemetery, Ree Heights. 

Bonnie was born to James “Jimmie” Hall Jr. and Ada (Baruth) Hall on December 5, 1934, in Highmore, SD. Growing up on the ranch southwest of Ree Heights, she enjoyed reading, riding horseback and helping her dad outside. She attended grade school at Cedar School and received her high school education from Miller Public High School, where she graduated with honors and was the 1952 Homecoming Queen. She continued her education at South Dakota State College in Brookings with a degree in Secretarial Science. While in college she worked part time for the Brookings Chamber of Commerce and Education Department of the college as a secretary.

She married Donald “Doc” Heasley on July 18, 1954, at the Ree Heights Congregational Church. They lived in Elizabethtown, KY, until Doc was discharged from the Army in 1955.  They later made their home on the ranch southwest of Ree Heights where they raised one son and two daughters. Bonnie resided and helped where needed on the farm up until 2002 when she moved into Miller.

Bonnie had a passion for teaching, which attributed to her years as a country schoolteacher in Hand County, later leading into opening her own ceramic shop in her home and teaching classes. She cherished the time she got to spend with her children and grandchildren. She enjoyed visiting and teaching them to play games: Kings in the Corner, Monopoly, and Go Fish to name a few. She used her crafting talent to help them learn and create many projects. If you stopped to visit Bonnie, you often found her reading a book, playing Solitaire, or watching an old western on TV.

She was an active 4-H member of the West Hand Baby Beef Club and a project leader. She was involved in the American Legion Auxillary Heasley Post 101, Hilltop Grange, Cedar Extension Club, Presbyterian Women, Red Hat Society and many more. She served on the Cedar School Board and Miller Independent Number One School Board. She was a member of the Cedar Congregational Church, Community Church in Ree Heights and later the First Presbyterian Church in Miller.

She will be greatly missed by her family of three children: Jeff (Pam) Heasley of Miller, Laura (Burt) Anderson of Highmore, and Carol (Tim) Waba of Watertown; eight grandchildren: Travis (Jill) Heasley, Chelsea (Riley) Pugh, Brooke (Will) Jones, J.D. (Sylvia) Anderson, Crystal Anderson (Mark) and Darrah (Kristi) Anderson, Jessica (Sean) Lessin, and Justin Waba; great and great-great grandchildren, numerous nieces, nephews, and many dear friends.

She was welcomed into Heaven by her husband, Donald “Doc” Heasley; brother and sister: Donald (Joyce) Hall and Lila (Richard) Bawdon; brother-in-law, Kenneth “Bud” (Donna) Heasley; and her parents.

Reck Funeral Home of Miller has been entrusted with Bonnie's arrangements.