Billy Don Bonds was born William Ray Warner Bunch on 5 February 1947 in Louisville, Kentucky to Arnetta Warner and J.B. Bunch. He stepped into eternity to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and family and friends waiting at the gates of Heaven to welcome him home on 8 September 2021 at Mercy Health Lourdes with the love and support of his family here holding him and one of his favorite nurses Ms. Lydia beside him.
His beautiful young mother Arnetta Warner, orphaned herself at 8 along with seven siblings when both their parents Roy and Elsie Cheatham Warner died within a two week window, had few marketable skills, lived in poverty, and had an uncertain housing situation. His father J.B. Bunch, a returning army veteran who fought on WW2’s European front through Africa, Italy, France, and Germany where he helped liberate Dachau Concentration Camp and stayed to help process out the German troops and guarded the captured S.S. soldiers, he was one of 6 survivors of his original platoon, his readjustment to civilian life was difficult for some time. Social morays of the time combined with the difficult situation forced his mother to make the difficult decision to surrender young Billy for adoption at 8 weeks.
His separation from his mother and inexperienced first-time foster parents resulted in Billy’s failure to thrive until he was moved at five months to a loving and active foster family where he bonded with his foster sister Patricia “Tatsy” and grew into a sturdy toddler who loved airplanes and would go to the ice box, stomp his chubby little foot and demand, “Bottle, bottle! Milk. milk!”
Now thriving, the state released Billy for adoption at 18 months and he found his forever home with Bluitt Robertson Bonds and Ruby Pearl Thomasson Bonds of Symsonia, Kentucky shortly thereafter. Doted on by both them and their families, his was fascinated by his grandfather Henry Thomasson’s coons used to train his coon dogs and riding with Henry in his jeep. He also liked his grandmother Bell Thomasson’s chickens and when she gave him a rooster of his very own as long as he could catch it, he carried the scar from the encounter for the rest of his life as well of the memory of how she cooed to him as she cuddled him to tend to the original wound. Ruby made sure he did well in school and that he practiced his piano, the latter along with his father’s deep baritone singing voice, made him a lifelong music fan, especially of American pianist Floyd Crammer. He loved growing up in Symsonia and often shared fond memories of the people and places he remembered there.
After Ruby’s death when Billy was 9, his father re-married Georgia Stallcup Horn and the new family moved to Marshall County for a fresh start on a farm where Billy adjusted to his new extended family situation, made lifelong friends, learned to cook and work in tobacco, rode horses, started smoking at 14,a habit he came to regret, and doted on his cats and kittens and his new baby sister Carolyn Sue “Sissy” who became the central attraction in the family with her blonde curls, giggles, hugs, and charm. His fascination with airplanes continued to grow. His stepmother said she bet his father was a pilot because he loved airplanes so much, a statement later found to be true later when he found his biological family and discovered his father used his GI Bill money to learn to fly and bought a Steerman biplane which he used in his barnstorming show. Billy also added two new interest, cars and girls, and could identify almost any vehicle he saw on sight for the rest of his life.
He also attended Briensburg Baptist Church where under the tutelage of Bro. Campbell and Christian men like John Dike, he accepted Christ and began his simple walk of faith. A subsequent member of Christian Fellowship, Farmington Baptist, and Caldwell Springs Baptist Church, Billy loved the words of Christ written large in red. He once said he did not know the prophets that well, but he knew Jesus and if He said it, that was good enough for him. Billy lived his life by the Golden Rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That served him well as everyone remembers Billy as a sweet, caring man who always wore a smile and had a kind word for others. A devout Christian himself, he never condemned anyone for their religion or lack of it, saying God alone would make that decision.
A a young teen Billy married Billie Jo Phelps and though the marriage did not survive, he had his first-born son Ronny Dale Bonds who was a miniature version of Billy except for his red hair and complexion which he inherited from his mother. He and Ronny were a packaged deal, and any future wife would have to accept and love Ronny as her own. He also declared that when he said I do again, there would never be an I don’t and he meant it.
On 21 January 1970 Billy married Carolyne Sue Martin, a native of Between the Rivers whose family was forced to re-locate to Marshall County by TVA and their now failed experiment that created Land Between the Lakes and disrupted the communities and lives of the people who once lived there.
Carolyne loved Ronny as her very own and called him her son by another mother while Billy came to love her former homeland and the people from there.
In addition to working, rearing their ever-expanding biological and extended family of children, the two attended countless meetings, signed petitions, and contacted legislators to make the government honor the original promises made to the former residents of Between the Rivers, joined BTR Inc. and cleaned cemeteries and helped restore the St. Stephen’s Catholic Church, and worked hard to save the history of that area. Billy was thrilled when he discovered his paternal great-grandmother Downing was related to the Downing family from the area and proudly claimed he too had a Between the Rivers connection. Despite a difficult start in the relationship, he also came to view Carolyne’s mother Evelyne Lawrence Martin as his own mother and she loved him like a son, often asking him for help before she did any of her own children.
After his father Bluitt’s death on Good Friday in 1976, Billy found his biological parents who had married five years after his birth and gained five own brothers and sisters to boot whom he came to love and treasured their lifelong relationship. His father J.B. told him he was so sorry and though he and Arnetta attempted to find Billy when they married, it was too late. However, they helped rear a nephew and niece as well as other children and J.B. always said he prayed that someone was caring for his son the way he cared for the children he and Arnetta took in. His mother re-gained the son she always believed she had marked the day social services took him from the Home for Unwed Mothers when she kissed him while wearing bright red lipstick on his sweet little forehead.
A man with a wonderful work ethic, he always worked hard at his various jobs, whether it was pumping gas at Hargrove’s Standard Station, cutting wood and/or tobacco or other odd jobs, moving houses for M.C. Ruggles, gel coater and crane operator at Proform Inc., or as the Clark Hall custodian at MSU among his many jobs. He prided himself on a well-maintained yard and his garden, especially his huge cabbage and varying types of tomatoes which were his favorite vegetable. An excellent cook, especially compared to Carolyne’s average but creative concoctions, he was famous for his potato salad.
A 2006 car accident left Billy disabled and forced his early retirement from MSU, a fact he deeply regretted because he loved many of the students who trusted him with their own life histories and interest and whom he encouraged to pursue their education in an area they loved rather than simply to have a job. His own world view expanded as he learned about their various backgrounds and cultures and always liked the students who helped with summer clean-up. His two favorites were Paul from Cameroon and Yun from China who both saw Billy as the father figure they missed while here and doted on him. Paul always called Billy “Golden Brown” because of a song Billy sang while working. Billy also bonded with many of his wife’s CCHS babies who lovingly called him PePaw or Uncle Fester.
He also loved many of those with whom he worked and remained in contact with them. One of his MSU benefits allowed his wife to take free college classes and helped her complete her M.S. degree in history which they both loved, though his primary interest was always WWII aviation history.
A collector by nature, Billy had a large collection of NASCAR toys and memorabilia, aviation reproductions, antique toys, knives, Andy Griffin videos, and CDs. He and his older sons Ronny and Phillip shared a love of racing and music and when the boys were teens, they often attended truck pulls and concerts together. He and his daughter Kim and son Trace loved fishing together as well as music. And after helping to rear Jennifer Massengill Wright from the age of three months, they shared a deep abiding love for each other and he always called Mercy Health Lourdes Hospital ‘Jenny’s hospital.’
Billy was also a lifelong yellow-dog Democrat who often volunteered at Murray campaign headquarters. As someone who did not even vote at the time of his marriage to Carolyne, he once attempted to join in a discussion about Watergate when his mother-in-law asked him for whom he had voted. When he responded that he did not vote, she told him he did not have any dogs in this race. After that he immediately registered to vote, never missed voting again, and enjoyed many lively discussions with his mother-in-law and others. The thrill of his life was meeting and shaking hands hands with Wendell Ford, Bill and Hillary Rodman Clinton, John Edwards, and Steve and Andy Beshear as well as many other good Democrats. He always regretted never meeting John McCain whom he greatly admired, Paul Martin Simon of Illinois, Barack and Michelle Obama, and never getting to visit Washington, D.S. and the Smithsonians. He was a strong advocate for the equal rights amendment, Civil Rights legislation, the environment, term limits, and election and criminal justice reform. A strong union supporter, he said a poor man voting for a Republican was like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders. Despite his personal beliefs, he believed in freedom of conscience and had friends from across the political spectrum.
Billy is survived by his wife of 51 years whom he always loved unconditionally and never attempted to change in any way beyond leading her to Christ in their living room in 1973, Carolyne Sue Martin Bonds; sons Phillip Don Bonds (Cherie) of Tri-City and William Daniel Trace Bonds of Fredonia; daughters Kimberly Diane Bonds of Aurora and Jennifer Massengill Wright (Rana) of Smithland, and daughter-in-law Debra Miller. With the adoption of their son Trace, Billy remained forever grateful to Willie Redd for such a special sacrifice and gained an honorary grandmother in Kathy Kerlin and her sister “Aunt Pat” Kerlin. Of their many foster children, Billy and Carolyne always considered Amanda Kathleen, Robert and Doris, Little Johnny, Abby and Jaysen, and Taquari children of their hearts even though adoption was not an option and they returned to their families where they most wanted to be and belonged.
His surviving siblings include Elizabeth Bunch Vint (Jim) of Dayton, Ohio, Joseph and James Bunch, Betty Bunch Byrd (Darroll whom he loved like a brother), Kathy Bunch of Willisburg, KY, and Carolyn Sue Bonds Culp (Steve) of Mayfield, and brothers of his heart Gerald Tatman “Jerry” Martin of Benton and Dr. Marvin “Nicky” Martin (Jamie) of Lexington.
A menagerie of nephews and nieces as well as many of Carolyne’s siblings and cousins also enriched his life and survive him, especially Johnny Byrd (Lori), Clayton Bunch, Darrol Holt Byrd, Ronnie Clevidence (Ronna), Becky Clevidence Chovan (Jeff), Billy Lawrence (Virginia), Ed Lawrence (Angel), Fannie Lawrence Knott (Leon), Gayle Huff, Marcia Huff “Nana” Brittain, Kim Martin Edwards, and Bud Spence (Sandy).
Blessed with a cadre of grandchildren about whom he had a personal story for each, he is survives by Danielle Bonds Minter, Brandon “James” Bonds (Haley), Amanda Bonds Maxey (Lucas), Phillip Jared Tatman Bonds (Bonnie), Graycee Lynn Clark, Kennedy Alyssa “Boo” Wright, Logan Phelps, Nicole Kemp-McRoy and Ronnie “Bubba” McIntosh. Adding to their quiver of blessings included great-grandchildren Elizabeth and David Bonds, James Michael “Booger” Minter, Kaylan “Muffin” Bonds, Clarity, Jason, Star and soon-to-arrive Veronica “Roni” Bonds, Bryson Collins, Beckham Maxey, Saydei Claire “Saydei Bug” Bonds, Seth Seay, Jeremiah Kemp and Shealynn “Little Red” McRoy.
Preceding him in death were his adoptive and biological parents, his stepmother, his mother-in-law/mother of the heart, sons Ronny Dale, Lonnie Joe, and Donnie Bonds, daughter Angela Carol Bonds, brothers Thomas Jefferson “T.J.” and Harold Lee Horn, sisters Martha Ann Horn Smith Rudd and Sue Etta Bunch Young, sister of his heart Gladys Louviena “Aunt Bean” Lawrence-Martin Clevidence, handsome and talented grandson Matthew William Bonds, beloved granddaughter Brittany Taylor Bonds whom he loved like a daughter and for whom he always grieved, great-granddaughter Alyssa Phelps, three little angels known before only to God which Billy now has met, nephews Aaron Byrd, Donnie, Ronnie, and Terry Lee “Terry Bob” Clevidence, and special cousins Ronnie Hardy and Chuck Huff whom he never ceased to miss.
Billy lost his battle with Covid despite being vaccinated, wearing a mask, and he always encouraged everyone he met to be vaccinated and to wear a mask to protect themselves and others. He knew his weaken immune system would not survive Covid, but during a recent visit with family in Central Kentucky he either encountered one or more people with or carrying Covid that was probably not masked or vaccinated and he like others before him paid the price in this world, but not in eternity. If he could leave one message behind other than to accept Jesus as their Savior, it would be to get vaccinated, wear a mask, and avoid or be careful in large gatherings. And to the person from whom he received Covid, he would offer his forgiveness and his well-wished for a better tomorrow without this spreading pandemic. The only thing he truly hated was this ‘new normal’ that has taken 40 million plus lives to date in America alone.
Billy’s visitation will be Tuesday, 14 September 2021, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Collier Funeral Home. 211 West 5th St., Benton. Bro. Ben Stratton and Bro. Leon Knott will conduct services at 1 p.m. with his internment at the Henry Lady Cemetery, a family cemetery in Between the Rivers [LBL], Lyon County, Kentucky.
Pall bearers will be Ronnie Clevidence, Carl “Scrappy” Henderickson, Jerry Holly, Glenn McKinney, Cary “Red” Parrot, and Rana Wright.
We appreciate the Forest Service’s promise to have the road to the cemetery in good condition for the funeral and any fallen or leaning trees cut back. If not, we are promising they will hear about it for a long time to come in the press, on Facebook, from those who love Between the Rivers and expect the promises made to be kept, and from state and federal legislators who always need votes at election time and given their current situation in LBL, they do not need that type of coverage.