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Bonnie Kay Cole

Bonnie Kay Cole

Funeral services for Bonnie Kay Cole will be held Wednesday, July 27, 2022 at 11:00 AM at the First Baptist Church of Checotah, Oklahoma. Interment will follow at the Council Hill Cemetery.

Bonnie Kay (Chester) Cole was born on the family farm outside of Council Hill, Oklahoma on January 28, 1948. She was the youngest of three children born to Roy and Ophelia (Pitman) Chester. She has to older siblings, Roy Nathaniel Chester and Wanda Smith-Blevins.

Bonnie was valedictorian of her high school class. She fell in love with Gerald Glen Cole her senior year of high school. On April 15, 1966, he picked her up on the schoolhouse steps, in the middle of a school day and away they drove to get married at the court house in Muskogee.

Bonnie had two children, Brenda Kay (Cole) Bradford and Ray William Cole.

Bonnie was a homemaker. She was very talented and did native beadwork and created Creek Indian dolls to sell to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. To this day, some of her dolls are still on display. She was highly artistic. She was a gifted artist and painter and played the guitar. She entered several exhibits throughout her lifetime.

Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents, Roy and Ophelia Chester; her husband Gerald Cole; grandson, Guess Brown and her son in law, Steve Bradford.

She is survived by her children, Brenda Bradford of Baron, Oklahoma and Ray and wife Kim (Miller) Cole of Troy Montana. Both of her siblings and their spouses, Roy Jr. Chester and Betty Lewis of Council Hill, and Wanda and Richard Blevins of Checotah. Her 10 grandchildren, Kody, Pepper, Nickie, Tyler, Ashley, Wyatt, Zach and Briar Cole and Billy and wife Ashley Cochran and Jacob Cochran and one great-grandchild, Max Cochran.

Bonnie passed away quietly on July 17, 2022 at the OSU Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma from ongoing medical issues after returning from Montana.

Services will be under the direction of Parks Brothers Funeral Home and officiated by Tim Turner.

1 Comment

  1. Brenda Bradford on February 10, 2023 at 10:28 am

    I wrote the original obituary for my mother. This is my obituary, however, it has been modified and plagiarized without my consent. I will post the original document. Brenda Kaye Bradford

    Bonnie Kay (Chester) Cole was born on her family’s farm outside Council Hill, Oklahoma on January 28th, 1948. She was the youngest daughter of Roy and Ophelia (Pitman) Chester. Bonnie was petite, never weighing more than 107 pounds her whole life, with beautiful, bouncy, brown, curly hair, and dark brown eyes. She was a bundle of intelligence and creativity. She had two older siblings Roy Nathaniel Chester Jr. and Wanda Louise Smith-Blevins.

    Bonnie was valedictorian of her high school class. She fell in love with Gerald Glenn Cole her senior year of high school. On April 15, 1966 he picked her up on the schoolhouse steps, in the middle of a school day and away they drove to get married at the courthouse in Muskogee.

    Bonnie gave birth to two children. Brenda Kay (Cole) Bradford and Ray William Cole. She was also the stepmother of Cynthia Ann (Montgomery) Case of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

    Bonnie was a homemaker. To earn a bit of her own spending money, she would do her Native beadwork and create Creek Indian dolls to sell to the Five Civilized Tribes Museum in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Her dolls were unique and the first of their kind. To this day some of her dolls are sometimes on exhibit. She was highly artistic. She played the guitar, and was a gifted artist and painter. She entered several exhibits throughout her lifetime.

    In her younger years, she tanned hides, canned bushels of food, milked goats, sewed her own clothes and often clothes for her children. She will be remembered for her delicious fried chicken, brown beans, yeast rolls, homemade pizza and her love of anything chocolate. She had breakfast on the table every morning by 6 AM and supper on the table every night by 5 PM. Her day was not done until her head hit the pillow. This petite woman was fierce in her own way. She was stubborn and when the occasion and temper arose, if she had a mind to, she could skin your hide enough to put a blush on a sailor from righteous indignation. She was not a firecracker; she was 90 pounds of dynamite.

    Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents Roy and Ophelia Chester, her husband Gerald Cole, and her son-in-law Steve Bradford. She is survived by her children, Brenda Bradford of Baron, Oklahoma and Ray and Kim (Miller) Cole of Troy, Montana, Cynthia Ann (Montgomery) Case of Tulsa, Oklahoma, both of her siblings and their spouses, Roy Jr. and Betty Lewis of Council Hill, and Wanda and Richard Blevins of Checotah, her 10 grandchildren and one great grandchild Max Cochran.

    Bonnie passed away quietly July 17th, 2022 at OSU Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma from ongoing medical issues after returning from Montana.

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