Without realizing it, she gave the Wood River Valley and animal and nature lovers from all walks of life hope and peace of mind. The Acker name is forever rooted to those essentials.
Bonnie Louise (Weyrich) Acker passed away on Thursday, June 13, in Bellevue, Idaho.
The daughter of William and Eleanor Weyrich, Bonnie was born in Kinsley, Kan., on March 10, 1929. Bonnie attended school in Kinsley and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in home economics from Kansas State University. During college, she met Arnold Acker, whom she married in 1951. After graduating in 1952, they moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, and then on to Santa Fe, N.M., where the first of their five children was born. They eventually moved to Grand Junction, Colo., where they settled in, had four more children and raised a family.
Bonnie was resourceful. A garden fed her family of seven. Peaches, corn and tomatoes were canned. Dill pickles and apricot jam were lined up in Ball jars in the basement laundry room. Radishes, onions and lettuce were nurtured from sun, water and her tender care. Nothing wasted; she was organic before organic was cool. Of course, there were endless varieties of critters—chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs, cats, dogs, toads, parrots and Buttons the horse. She enjoyed the outdoors. Many happy days were spent fishing and hunting on Grand Mesa.
After her husband passed away in 1993, she moved to Ketchum, where all four of her sons were living, and was closer to her daughter, who was living in Cascade at the time. She reinvented herself; volunteering at the Sun Valley Summer Symphony, road biking and taking a job at the airport. She was quite social, enjoying new friends and the Ketchum lifestyle.
In the end, simple pleasures such as going for an ice cream cone or enjoying a piece of chocolate brought a smile to her face. Throughout her life, her true joy was time spent with her family.
Bonnie was preceded in death by her husband, Arnold, and her son Stan.
She is survived by her sister, Wilma (Lee); sons Mark (Barbara), Randy (Sue) and Scott (Sandie); daughter, Lynda (Mike); and seven grandchildren, Amber, Maggie, Marcus, Journey, Hunter, Charles, and John.
A family ceremony to remember Bonnie will be held later this year. Friends and loved ones are invited to make donations to the charity of their choice.
