Bonnie Palmquist

We lost our mother, grandmother, great grandmother, aunt, cousin and friend in the earliest moments of March 31, 2026. Her name was Mary, and there were several different versions as to why she didn’t use that name, but everyone knew her as Bonnie. It did cause some confusion in certain legal systems that she would insist on using a name that wasn’t legally hers, but she was stubborn and she sailed her ship the way she wanted to. Bonnie gave meaning to the phrase short but feisty. She had to be as she raised six sons and two daughters. Bonnie was a staunch defender of the rights of women and people less fortunate to have opportunity in this world and pushed her children to pursue whatever passions they had. She would not have considered herself any kind of radical in that regard, she just thought it was the right thing to do. She was talented at making do with what she had, such as making Halloween costumes for children, eager to go out trick-or-treating, when all she had to work with was aluminum foil. She believed in the power of education, Bonnie attended the College of Saint Catherine and received her Bachelor’s degree from Metro State. She went on to earn a Masters degree from Hamline University.  She worked for many years as an archivist with the Minnesota Historical Society and used her discoveries there to create beautiful historical poetry and published two books of historical and personal poetry. She delighted in seeing peony bushes come to life every spring and the beautiful fragrance of lilacs. She loved ice cream and believed that simply everything was better with either bacon or cream but especially butter. These last years were hard for Bonnie as she lost her physical abilities, but she never forgot her children. She might have had to call a few different names out before she got the right one, but honestly, that was not unusual. Bonnie loved to travel, across the country or around the world. She was able to fly first class one time and that might have been our downfall as after that she believed coach seats should not exist. Bonnie loved and was loved very deeply. And we will miss her every day.

Mass of Chrisitan Burial Thursday April 16th 11:00 am at St. Peter's Historic Church, Mendota.  Visitation Wednesday April 15th 4-8 pm at the O'Halloran & Murphy Funeral Chapel, 575 Snelling Ave S, St Paul, MN 55116 and one hour prior at Church of St Peter's.  Interment at St. Peter's Church Cemetery.

Memorials preferred to the Friends of the St. Paul Library. http://thefriends.org/donate/

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