Beloved Friend Brigid Bonner died on February 3, 2019, surrounded and held by her community of Friends and friends. Her love and care of children, the landscaping and gardening she did at the homes of her professional clients and at the meeting house, and her love of the outdoors were all touchstones of her life. Her gregarious and cheerful nature, and her open and humorous acceptance of imperfections and challenges were inspirations to us in Corvallis Meeting. Time spent with children and friends was more important to Brigid than an affluent lifestyle.
Brigid was born November 27, 1967 in China Lake, California, and lived in Colorado before moving to Corvallis in 2003, where she attended Oregon State University and graduated with a degree in horticulture. Brigid started attending Corvallis Friends Meeting in 2008 and joined in 2010. Over the next decade she served as Assistant Treasurer, Volunteer Coordinator for Groundskeeping, a volunteer with the Children’s Religious Education program, and on The Spiritual Care Committee.
In December 2016, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumor (glioblastoma), she turned for support to the Meeting community, other good friends and her family. In the following year and a half she was able to wrap up her landscaping business, design a new board game, and undertake travels to visit her family and fulfill her dream of seeing Ireland.
While Brigid was still fairly healthy and able to attend, at her request the Meeting and many of her friends celebrated her life in a meeting for worship filled with spoken ministry, crafts, art and music. It was particularly moving that all ages were involved.
The Meeting appointed a care committee to meet with Brigid as she made decisions to cope with a relentlessly advancing cancer and declining abilities in driving, walking and speech processing. In her final weeks, these meetings became times of silent worship, often involving frustration to the point of tears and laughter as Brigid struggled to express herself and the committee to understand her. Through these experiences we grew and learned from her example of living with and dying with cancer.