Shirley Jean Thatcher Bonnette

In honor of a devout amazing woman and a life well lived, the family of Shirley Jean Thatcher Bonnette announces her passing on September 1, 2023, at her home in West Monroe, LA, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, September 5, 2023, in the chapel of Mulhearn Funeral Home West Monroe, LA with Rev. Rick Crandall officiating.  Interment will follow in the Pleasant Hill Church Cemetery in West Monroe, LA.  Visitation will be held from 12:00 P.M. until Service Time on Tuesday.

Born at home in West Monroe on December 17, 1935, Shirley lived her entire life in the West Ouachita Parish area.  Everyone that knew her, knew her to be a strong woman with extraordinary work ethic along with a sincere love for people.  She had the most contagious laugh that you could not deny. She worked at Bancroft Bag throughout her forties and fifties but the job that Shirley proudly served best was raising a family and being a homemaker.   Shirley loved her yard! She spent many hours mowing, picking up sticks, manicuring, and waiving to everyone who passed the home she loved but would soon forget.

Shirley’s husband of 72 years passed away just 2 months earlier and she could not wait another day to join him in heaven!  

She is preceded in death by her beloved husband of 72 years, William Breard Bonnette; parents, James David Thatcher and Jimmie Mae Segars Thatcher; her sister, Betty Ann Thatcher DuBois; her brother, James David “Buddy” Thatcher, Jr; and her best friend for life, Sybil Cotton Caples.

Survivors include her sister, Mary Helen Thatcher Cotton; daughter, Sheila Bonnette Vallery and husband, Bill; son, Doyle Wayne Bonnette and wife, Melinda Harper Bonnette; daughter, Angie Bonnette Biscomb; grandchildren, Brian Lewis, Julie Lewis Posey and fiancée, Mike D’Angelo, Jonathan Carpenter, Meleah Bonnette Jones and husband, Jamie Jones, and Wesley Bonnette and wife, Katie Crandall Bonnette; 11 great grandchildren; and 1 great-great grandchild.

Pallbearers will be Wesley Bonnette, Brian Lewis, Jamie Jones, Trey Devillier, Mike D’Angelo and Brandon Lewis.  Honorary Pallbearers will be Bobby Devillier, George Roberts, and Tommy Coleman.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

The family extends love and appreciation to the care givers at Always Best Care, Compassus Hospice Care, and all her loving neighbors on Howard Brown Road.