83-year-old Bonnie Marie Schilt of West Salem, passed from this life to the next on April 7 at Carle Richland Memorial Hospital, Olney.
Bonnie was born on March 23, 1937 in Equality, IL to Minnie (Healy) and Ralph Stilley.
Bonnie was raised in the Shawnee Forest, the daughter of a coal miner/farmer and those humble and honest roots kept her grounded her entire life long.
She married Wayne Dale Schilt on October 31, 1958 at the First Baptist Church of Albion and they have enjoyed over 61 years together.
Bonnie worked at Champion Laboratories for 39 years. She was a member of the Free Methodist Church and the Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church. She loved investing herself in people, visiting, and having a great time. A family member said of Bonnie, “She had five opinions, which she would share, and every one of them may have been identical, but she wanted you to know what she thought, and she cared!” Bonnie was not extravagant, but she had the heart of a servant and was beautiful in her simplicity.
She was preceded in death by her parents, infant brother Wendell Stilley, sister Barbara Abendroth, and daughter-in-law Tammy Schilt.
Bonnie is survived by her husband, Wayne; three sons: Kevin Schilt, Wesley (Lisa) Schilt, and Bradley (Jennifer) Schilt; grandchildren: Kelsey (Amanda) Schilt, Mykayla, Emily, Heaven, Destiny, and Jacob; and one brother, Lendon (Louise) Stilley. She is also survived by several nieces and nephews.
Memorials are encouraged to Pleasant Grove Church and may be mailed to the funeral home at 241 West Main St, Albion, IL 62806.
Due to the current federal and state-wide mandates in place because of the COVID-19 pandemic, services for Bonnie will be held privately on Friday, April 10.
Friends and extended family are encouraged to take the time to share those heartwarming, funny, serious and sincere condolences with her family at www.meridithfuneralhome.com.
The Schilt family will get through this and one of the ways they will, is with “a little help from their friends.”
Ingram-Meridith Funeral Home of West Salem is honored to be entrusted with the services.