Bonnie Bell Cox

Bonnie Bell (Luna) Hodges, Cox, age 92, passed away peacefully on the morning of Tuesday, December 29, 2020, at her home in Port Hadlock, Washington. Graveside memorial services will be held on January 8, 2021, at 1 pm at Sequim View Cemetery in Sequim, Washington. Bonnie is preceded in death by Russel Hodges (first husband), Luther Cox (second husband), Pam Gustafson (daughter), Dixie Bryant (sister), and Ted Luna (brother). She is survived by Terry Hodges (son), Alene Thompson (daughter), Marilee Wilson (daughter) and George Wilson (son-in-law), Mark Gustafson (son-in-law), Jane Owen (sister) along with many nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Bonnie was born on July 1, 1928, in Granite, Oklahoma to Theodore and Dixie Luna. During her early life, Bonnie developed a sense of care and compassion for others that would persist all her life. Her sister, Jane, describes Bonnie as the “best big sister ever, teaching her to play baseball and how to do embroidery.” In 1946 she married Russell Hodges and in the subsequent years, they started a family in Corvallis, Oregon. Bonnie was a dedicated wife and mother, determined to ensure her family always knew how much they were loved. She worked tirelessly so that they wanted for nothing. She dealt with any stress she faced with grace and patience and was open and friendly with anyone she met. She was also committed to her community. When her children were young, for example, they lived a number of miles away from the nearest country schoolhouse with no bus service available. So she and the neighbor alternated every other week to drive six children to school, all throughout the school year. While Russell was the family breadwinner, Bonnie was the bread maker baking bread, cookies and other pastries on the weekends for school lunches. She was also an avid reader all her life, and loved to collect odd and obscure salt and pepper shakers. As her family expanded with nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, Bonnie’s love grew in kind. A visit to grandma’s always started with an enthusiastic, loving hug and always ended with a tearful goodbye. Her spirit was infectious, and she had an uncanny way of making people feel heard, held, and important no matter the circumstance. Bonnie’s sincerity, warmth, humor, poise, endless reservoir of energy, brightness, and limitless love will be missed by all those who knew her. Her legacy continues on in her family, who miss her deeply and who thank her for every minute she graced this life with her inimitable presence.