Mass of Christian Burial for Bonita "Bonnie" Gorham, 73, of Mobridge, SD, is 10:00 a.m., Monday, April 20, 2015, at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery of Mobridge under the direction of Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge. Visitation will be from 2:00-4:00 p.m., Sunday, April 19, 2015, at the funeral home and will resume from 6:00-7:00p.m., at St. Joseph Catholic Church with a rosary at 7 p.m. Bonnie passed away April 16, 2015 at the Mobridge Regional Hospital.

Bonnie Gorham was born Bonita Kathryn Mersch on July 26, 1941, to Peter and Helen (Ecker) Mersch at Hankinson, ND. The family lived in Mantador, ND, where she attended 8 years of school, being taught by the School Sisters of Notre Dame of Mankato, MN. She went one year to St. Francis Academy in Hankinson, then transferred to and graduated from Hankinson High School with the class of 1959.

Bonnie moved to Huron, South Dakota, and worked at the National Bank of South Dakota for two years. She met and married Albert L Gorham on May 20, 1961, in Huron. They moved to Pierre and lived there until October, 1962, when they moved to Mobridge.

Five children were born to Al and Bonnie: Sandy (Randy) Meier, Coreen (Dave) Carlton, Annette (Jeff) Rentschler, Doug (Amy) Gorham and Russell (Joleigh) Gorham.

Bonnie worked part-time to supplement the family income, those jobs included day care for other children, working at the Moose Club, CNA at Mobridge Care Center, Election Board worker, School Census taker, and bookkeeper at Kramer-Korbyn Auto. On Dec. 18, 1978, she went to work full-time for Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. as an engineering aide. She retired from MDU after 28+ years on March 31, 2007.

Bonnie was active in the Mobridge Jaycettes for 15 years, where she held most offices including president and state district vice-president. When her daughters joined Girl Scouts, Bonnie took a leadership role for five years. Bonnie was a member of the Women of the Moose since 1973 and worked on many projects over the years. Bonnie was an active member of Mobridge Area Right to Life and South Dakota Right To Life where she served two years as state secretary and continued with an active interest in both the local and state level.

She also was active in her church, St. Joseph Catholic, and Altar Society, where she served one term as president. She also served a four year term on the parish council. She taught religion classes for several years. She was a Eucharistic minister, lector, greeter, rosary leader, and sacristan for her church. Bonnie's hobbies were many: She enjoyed crocheting and knitting and taught both of those classes in adult education at the Mobridge High School for 10 years. She also liked to sew, she made most of her children's clothes when they were young, and the wedding dress for two of her daughters. She also did sewing for other people including alterations. Other hobbies included cooking, baking, cake decorating, quilting, reading, crossword puzzles and other word puzzles, gardening, and genealogy. She published a family history book of her mother's family in 1972 and has kept a computer record of all sides of their family for many years.

Bonnie enjoyed bowling since she was in grade school. She joined the Mobridge Women's Bowling Association when they moved to Mobridge and bowled continuously until the bowling alley burned in Jan. 2005. She held all league offices including secretary-treasurer for many years. Some of her proudest achievements were becoming a member of the 600 club, winning the 1993 SD State Mixed Doubles Tournament with her partner, Pepsi Lawrence, and bowling a 300 game in the MDU 9 pin no-tap tournament in Bismarck in 2002, She loved to dance, especially waltz and polka, but also jitterbug with Al.

After Bonnie retired she wanted to move to a warmer climate for the winter so she purchased a park trailer at Aztec RV Resort in Mesa, AZ. Here Bonnie and Al made many new friends and became active in many park activities. They took over as Park Activity Directors in the fall of 2009. Due to health issues she was forced to retire in Jan. 2014.

Bonnie is survived by her husband Al, children Sandy (Randy) Meier, Coreen (Dave) Carlton, Annette (Jeff) Rentschler, Doug (Amy) Gorham and Russell (Joleigh) Gorham. 12 grandchildren, Eric (Morgan) Filler, Monte (Mallory) Meier, Monica Meier, Emma, Casey & Annie Carlton, Alicia & Jordan Rentschler, Klarissa & Keith Gorham, Jessie Steers and Trevor Gorham, 3 great-grandchildren Kaden, Logan and Penelope, brother, Vernon Mersch.

She was preceded in death by her father in 1970, mother in 1997, brother Norbert in 2003, sister Lorraine in 2007, sister-in-law Verene in 2010.

In lieu of flowers memorials may be directed to Mobridge Swimming Pool or Mobridge Fire Department.