Obituary of Bonnie Bernice Colbert

Funeral Services for Bonnie Bernice Colbert of Elsberry, MO will be held at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 10, 2015 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry. Rev. Paul Garven, Pastor of the Elsberry United Methodist Church, will officiate with burial in Star Hope Cemetery near Elsberry. Serving as pallbearers will be Bill Halley, Jimmy Ross, Allison Brower, John Burger, Dennis Berkley and Gary McCubbins. Frank Teasley will serve as an honorary pallbearer. Mrs. Colbert, 94, passed away Monday evening, December 7, 2015 at the Elsberry Health Care Center near Elsberry. Born May 9, 1921 in Kennett, MO, she was the daughter of William and Clora Augusta Baird Berkley. Bonnie became a member of the Elsberry United Methodist Church in 1932 at the age of 11. She was a 1940 graduate of Elsberry High School. As a young woman in the mid 1940’s, Bonnie was employed as a bookkeeper for the Checkerboard Elevator Company of Purina Mills in St. Louis, MO. As part of her job, Bonnie got onto the floor of the Merchants’ Exchange Grain Market. This job was a privilege because it had never been granted to women prior to the War. After three years of employment, she left this job so she could get married. Bonnie was united in marriage on October 27, 1945 in Elsberry to Delmer Eugene Colbert. This union was blessed with one son, David. During the years following her marriage, Bonnie worked in several local stores until September, 1966 when she was offered the position as bookkeeper for LaCrosse Lumber Yard, where she worked for the next seventeen years, retiring in June, 1983. She was a member of the Parents as Teachers Association. Bonnie continued to serve the Elsberry United Methodist Church in various capacities and faithfully attended services until her declining health made it impossible. She was preceded in death by her parents, William and Clora Berkley; two brothers: Louis Albert Berkley in 1991 and Lloyd Joseph Berkley in 2005; one niece, Donna Vaupel in 2011; and her beloved husband of 54 years, Delmer Colbert, who died February 10, 2000. Survivors include her son, David Colbert and his companion, Nancy, of Old Monroe, MO; four nieces; six nephews; two sisters-in-law and many dear friends. Visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. until time of the service at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, December 10, 2015 at Carter-Ricks Funeral Home in Elsberry. Memorials may be made to the Elsberry United Methodist Church in care of Carter-Ricks Funeral Home, 107 S. 5th Street; Elsberry, MO 63343.