William H. Bonner

Funeral service for William Homer Bonner, 91, of Cookeville, Tennessee, will be held at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25, at First United Methodist Church in Cookeville. Interment will follow in Cookeville City Cemetery. The family will receive friends Tuesday from 9 a.m. until time of services at the church. Dr. Bonner passed away suddenly on Saturday August 22, 2015. He was born on June 5, 1924, in Nauvoo, Alabama, to the late Lee Homer Bonner and Willie Ann Baughn Bonner. He is survived by his wife, Martha Sue Wilson Bonner (whom he married December 20, 1969 in Richmond, KY), and two children: Andrew William Bonner (Julie) and their children, Jackson William, Benjamin Edward, and Elizabeth (Ella) Grace of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina; and Kent Wilson Bonner (Jenny) and their daughter, Abby Sue, of Houston, Texas. He is also survived by several nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by three sisters: Bertha Lucille Harper and husband, S. Grady J. Harper; Laura Florence Farris and husband, Charles D. Farris; and Margaret Verla Bishop and husbands, Ora L. Hardin, Giles P. Morris, and Lee Elmer Bishop. After high school graduation, he worked for three years in the War Ordnance Department offices in Mississippi. Wanting to be a teacher, he then enrolled in Livingston State Teachers College. He was able to work full time in the Business Office and received his bachelor's degree in three years. They convinced him to stay, teach a few courses, and they would give him the winter quarters off to work on a Master's degree at the University of Tennessee. After receiving this degree in 1953, he was convinced to stay at UT as an instructor and then take a leave to pursue a doctorate. He received the Doctorate degree in 1961 from The Ohio State University. He remained one more year and several summers at UT and then accepted a position at Tennessee Technological University as professor and chairman of the Business Education Department in 1962 where he stayed 37 years until he retired in 1999. He published two textbooks, the first of which was published in 1974 and continued through 10 editions. He held leadership position in several organizations, including president of the Southern Business Education Association and vice president of the American Business Communication Association. The awards he most coveted included one for Outstanding Professor of the Year at Tennessee Tech and four for Outstanding Professor in the College of Business. He loved his students and never had a day that he didn't want to go to school! They in turn loved him back. He was a member of First United Methodist Church and served on various committees through the years. He delighted in spending time with his family. He enjoyed working in the yard and mowed his lawn until he was 88. Travel was important: he visited all 50 states and 24 countries. Pallbearers will be his nephews, Dennis Farris, Grady Harper, Jr., Keith Harper, John Carnes, and Dr. Stan Carnes. Rev. Rebecca Larson, Dr. Martin Thielen, and Rev. Whitney Mitchell will officiate at the services. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the William H. Bonner Scholarship Fund P.O. Box 1915 at Tennessee Tech or to the First United Methodist Church 165 E. Broad St both in Cookeville, TN 38501