Jean Rita (Scherman) Bonjour

Born in St. Louis, Jean and family moved to Savanna the day of the Savanna Sabula Bridge opening in 1932. The family home was on Walnut Street. She tap danced through her grade school years, performing often on Savanna stages. She was a drum majorette in the high school marching band. The baton would come out for demonstrations for decades after band membership. She graduated from high school under the cloud of refusing to kill a chicken in her home economics class. It seems this was a requirement! But her parents argued with the principal and she was given a waiver. After high school Jean worked at the Army Depot making ammunition. She was one of the two hundred people Glenn Bonjour supervised. They married in 1946 and lived in Blackhawk Village outside of the Army Depot road until 1950 when they moved to the present-day family home on Eaton Street in Savanna. Randy was born in 1949 and Gary in 1951. Through the decades much time was spent at Old Mill Park where Glenn’s father was the caretaker. Visits were regular to the Fecke Farm, home of Jean’s sister, Thelma. Sunday dinner was enjoyed at one of these two places weekly. Twenty to thirty would attend.

Jean and family have been members of the First United Methodist Church since 1963. The family tithed. They served on the committees. If the family was in town, they attended church. After Glenn passed, if Jean was in Savanna she attended church.

Coast Guard landing and Crooked Slough were favorite get-away spots. Both places are located on the Army Depot. After the children left home, a camper was purchased. They would stay at Coast Guard Landing for weeks at a time, going to town for church and groceries. Jean canned 200 quarts of vegetables from their garden every year while the children were at home and was a league bowler for over thirty years. A three-week vacation by car was taken in 1962. A day at Disneyland was purchased with Green Stamps issued by the Savanna National Tea! Other stops included Hollywood, Las Vegas, Tucson, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, and Carlsbad Caverns. Reoccurring vacations took place in Tomahawk Wisconsin where the crappies are much bigger than in Savanna! The returning luggage included an ice chest of frozen fish fillets.

Gary died in 2008. Glenn died in 2010. From 2010 to 2014 Jean lived in Savanna and in Oxford Iowa where Randy and spouse Susie lived and worked. The two-hour ride becoming too much, the journey to Oxford was stopped. Randy and Jean lived on Eaton Street from 2015 on. Jean was a life-long Cub fan. Randy and Jean were watching a Cub game when she passed. Before the game, a few hours of forties music were enjoyed. Jean attended church the Sunday before she passed. An awkward sentence to close out a life story, but Jean would have wanted it said.