Bonnie Blanchard

Bonnie Blanchard passed away on April 4, 2025, at her home in West Des Moines, with her children at her side. She was 86 years old.

A Celebration of Life service will be held on Wednesday, April 9th at 1 PM at Caldwell Parrish Funeral Home in Adel.

Bonnie was born on March 4, 1939, to Lester and Alma Prouty, at the family’s home in Dallas County, Iowa. Later she had two siblings, a sister, Vera and a brother, Denny.

Bonnie graduated from Van Meter Community School, where she played basketball. She also played the clarinet in the high school marching band. She enjoyed playing the piano and accordion as well.

She married Robert (Bob) Blanchard on Nov 6, 1959. Together they had four children, Brent, Lisa, Terry, and Denny.

She had many hobbies, she enjoyed reading, doing puzzles, sunbathing, and gardening. She was also quite the collector, Pfaltzgraff, bird houses and gnomes. When she moved to town, she added chickens and pigs to her yard décor.

When anyone stopped in for a visit, regardless of the time of day, you knew she’d be sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee. Her coffee pot was always on!

One of her favorite things to do was eat out. It’s still being debated if that was because she wasn’t really a very good cook or she just didn’t like to do dishes! Luckily for us kids, she didn’t bake much either! “Hey mom, are these cookies supposed to be black on the bottom and crunchy”?

Bonnie was preceded in death by her parents, Lester and Alma Prouty; her husband, Bob; her son, Terry; and grandson, Joshua.

She is survived by her children, Brent (Esther) Blanchard; Lisa (Jason) Briley; Denny (Ruth) Blanchard; daughter in law, Karen Blanchard; 10 grandchildren; 9 great grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; sister, Vera (Kerry) Pomeroy; and brother Dennis (Pam) Prouty.

Donations in Bonnie's memory may be directed to D.A.V. (Disabled American Veterans) or any other Veterans Support Organization.