Oren Vogel Bonney

Oren Vogel Bonney, age 99, passed away Thursday, September 8, 2022. He was born on January 12, 1923 in Jefferson City, Missouri, to Clydelia and Harvey Bonney. Oren spent time in his youth in Jefferson City before his family moved to Wenatchee, Washington growing up on the family apple orchard. After high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp during World War II working as a cryptographer and was stationed in various places including North Africa. After the war, he graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in Chemical Engineering and Civil Engineering. His professional career began at the Eastman-Kodak Co. in Rochester, New York. Rochester was where he met and ultimately married, in 1954, Arlene Maurer. Moving to Woodland, California, a few years later, Oren began a long, successful career at Spreckels Sugar while Arlene worked at the state capital. In Woodland, the Bonneys started their family with Sheila being born in 1960 and Lisa in 1961. Upon retirement, Oren and Arlene settled in Phoenix, Arizona before moving to Broomfield, Colorado to be closer to family for the last 20 years. Oren continued to work in retirement contracting his engineering knowledge to a food testing lab in Washington state from time to time. Oren was very proud of his family history as his ancestors came to the United States from Europe only a few years after The Mayflower landed in Massachusetts. Oren loved travel. Through work, he had the opportunity to visit many countries around the world including Argentina, Peru and other parts of South America, plus family vacations to Europe. He and Arlene loved their day trips to casinos in Blackhawk, Colorado to play video poker and have lunch. He played golf in retirement, loved to play board games, and was quite the bridge player up until almost the end of his life. Oren also enjoyed cooking and baking, and even received awards in local competitions for some of his recipes. He was most “famous" for his wide array of colorfully decorated Christmas cookies, plus cheesecakes and pies. Always an avid fan of airplanes, he attended air shows with Sheila and her husband, Steven, up until last year. Oren loved to play acoustic guitar playing standards and country western as well as Spanish guitar music. His 99 years were rewarding with a loving family and many friends. Oren was preceded in death by his wife, Arlene (d. 2017) and is survived by his two daughters, Sheila (Steven) Higgins and Lisa (Aaron) Krouse, and three grandchildren, Alex Krouse, Leah Krouse, and Anya Krouse. Graveside services will be held Saturday, September 17, 2022, at Riverside Cemetery in Jefferson City.