Bonnie Faye Hohimer

Bonnie Faye Hohimer—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother—passed away
on June 2, 2023, in Longwood, Florida, at the age of 93. She was an avid reader, a meticulous
gardener, a masterful crocheter, and a Civil War buff. She enjoyed the dulcet tones of Dean Martin
and swinging on the dance floor with her husband, Jim, to Bob Wills & the Texas Playboys. She
loved card games, crossword puzzles, and her Capri 120 cigarettes (not necessarily in that order).
And she lived for the moments spent with those she loved—from family fish fries and annual Fourth
of July fireworks to birthday celebrations and the magic of Christmas morning.
Bonnie was born on July 5, 1929, in Portales, New Mexico, to Emory and Cleora Witt. The
story of her life unfolded alongside some of the 20th century’s most defining moments—the Great
Depression, World War II, the first commercial jet flight, the advent of television, man’s first steps
on the moon, the birth of the computer. But perhaps most notably, hers was a story marked by a
quiet strength, an unwavering commitment to family, and a deep reverence for the lives led by the
family she created.
Soon after she was born, her parents moved their family, which included three brothers and
two sisters, to Cleveland, Oklahoma, where childhood days were spent skipping stones on the river
and flattening pennies on the railroad tracks. In high school, Bonnie—at a mere 4 feet, 11
inches—became a star player on the basketball team, developing a love of the sport she would
carry throughout her life.
Shortly after graduating from high school, on a snowy January day in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Bonnie married Jim Hohimer, who won her over with his fun-loving, good-natured spirit. For her
first dinner party as a married woman, she fried four whole chickens for her new hubby and their
two guests—one of the many stories Jim would never tire of telling over the course of their 64-year
marriage. Soon came the couple’s first son, Stephen, followed the next year by their second son,
Jay, and a move to New Mexico, the foothold of a booming oil industry and the place Bonnie would
begin a rewarding 26-year career with international oil giant Texaco. In a time where opportunities
for women didn’t extend far beyond the home, Bonnie charted her own course as a multifaceted
career woman, wife, and mother who was as much in her element in the conference room as she
was in the kitchen (she’d come a long way since that first dinner party).
Bonnie retired from Texaco in 1989 and headed south to Florida, where both of her sons
had settled and were now raising families of their own. For the next 30-odd years, Bonnie filled her
days with her favorite things: reading biographies, rooting for the Orlando Magic, visiting Civil War
landmarks, playing skat with her grandkids, fishing for bass, and savoring every last second she
spent with her nearest and dearest.
Bonnie is preceded in death by her husband, Jim, and her five siblings. She is survived by her
son, Stephen St. Clair and daughter-in-law Carol; son Jay Hohimer and daughter-in-law Terrie; four
grandchildren, Jason Hohimer, Stacy Robinson, Audrey St. Clair, and Chelsea St. Clair; and three
great-grandchildren, Emory Hohimer, Rhys Robinson, and Lydia Robinson.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the nonprofit organization,
Cure for Alzheimer’s: https://curealz.org .