Bonnie Ruth Patton

January 13, 1936 — May 18, 2025

Paola, Kansas

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Bonnie Ruth Patton, loving mother and grandmother.

Bonnie was born on November 13, 1936, in Somerset, Kansas. She passed away peacefully at her home in Paola, Kansas, on May 18, with her family present.

Bonnie was a very hard worker and put herself through nursing school at Fort Scott Community College in 1983 where she got her associates in nursing and became an RN while working nights at the Osawatomie State Hospital and taking care of her children. She later continued her nursing education, first getting her BSN and finally her MSN and continued working at the State Hospital for many years before retiring as well as other psychiatric nursing jobs around the Kansas City area.

She was one of the founders of the LMHT program at OSH, was a psych instructor for NCCC and also taught CNA classes for FSCC. She was very compassionate about mental health and was a member of the Friends of the Mentally Ill Foundation. She also started the Cherubs Ministry, helping to provide young women who were pregnant or had recently had a baby with diapers, wipes, clothing and other needed items.

Bonnie was pre-deceased by her brothers, Stan, Dan, Benny and Gary Morgan; her mother, Irene Bleyenberg; father, Damon Morgan; and ex-husband and father of her children, Warren G. Patton. She is survived by her children, LeAnn, Warren Matthew and his wife Yi Chen; her grandchildren Aimee, Michael, Ashley, Alissa, Brooke, Bradley and Austin; and many great-grandchildren. Michael lived with her and was her companion and caretaker for many years making it possible for her to continue living in her home until her passing.

Bonnie has always been a strong and caring person, not allowing all of her hard work get her down and still had the energy to look out for anyone in the family or anyone else she met with courage and compassion. She will be missed not only by her family, but by all of those whose lives she touched in her over 88 years of life.

Funeral service will be 1 p.m. Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Faith Baptist Church in Osawatomie, Kansas. Burial will be in Miami Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 21, at the Faith Baptist Church. Memorial contributions are suggested to Friends of the Mentally Ill or Miami County Cancer Association. Online condolences can be left at www.eddybirchard. com.

(Published in the Linn County Journal on May 20, 2025.)