Bonnie Louise (Johnson) Huebsch was born October 23, 1945 to Arthur F. & Lois E. (Truedson) Johnson and passed away March 4, 2024 at Ecuman Pathstone Living in Mankato after a courageous 15+ month cancer battle.
Services will be at Hosanna Lutheran Church at 11:00 on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Visitation will be held at Northview – North Mankato Mortuary from 4:00 – 7:00 on Friday, March 15, 2024 and continues 1 hour before the service at the church on Saturday.
Bonnie grew up in Walnut Grove, Minnesota and was so proud of her hometown. She never missed an opportunity to tell the story of Walnut Grove being the home of Little House on the Prairie and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Bonnie graduated from Walnut Grove High School in 1963 and moved to Mankato where she attended Mankato Commercial College.
Bonnie started working for Minnesota State University, Mankato (then Mankato State College) in 1964 in their business office and 9 months later moved to the Registrar’s Office. She remained in the Registrar’s Office for the next 45 years as University Classroom Scheduler, retiring in 2010. MSU and the wonderful students, faculty, staff and administrators she had the pleasure of working with made it an amazing career.
She met Harland Huebsch at a house party after moving to Mankato and they were married November 12, 1977. They moved onto his farm just outside Good Thunder and have been there ever since. The birth of their son Timothy on October 19, 1979 completed the family and Harley, Bonnie and Tim have been inseparable since, including the regular Christmas cruises they did every other year.
Bonnie absolutely loved music starting with piano and organ lessons as a young child and playing for church since she was 12. That passion for music continued throughout her life serving as church organist until cancer arrived in November 2022 and she played her last song on the piano at Pathstone on February 17, 2024. She loved playing for church, weddings, funerals and any celebration. She spent years playing at Hillcrest Nursing Home for their weekly Catholic service. She always got a good laugh out of being the Lutheran organist for the Catholic service – “Tunes are all the same and the residents loved the music” she would say with a smile.
Bonnie did beautiful needlework, especially crochet. Many Mankato families wrapped their newborns in her lovely crocheted blankets. Helping others and volunteering were a constant throughout her life. After retiring, Harley and Bonnie loved working at Echo Food Shelf with Deisy, the staff and all the other volunteers. She also loved bringing groups together to catch up and be there for each other. She helped organize many of the reunions for her Walnut Grove graduating class as well as countless gatherings of the retirees from MSU’s Registrar’s Office.
Bonnie is preceded in death by her parents, Art & Lois Johnson. She is survived by her husband Harland of over 46 years and their son Tim of Maple Grove. Cousins include Scott & Lisa Truedson of Marshall; Wayne Truedson of Walnut Grove; Joan Sherman and Everett & Mildred Johnson of Iowa as well as cousins in Sweden. Other survivors include brother-in-law Dennis Huebsch, wife Barb, and their son Jeremy and his wife Jo Ann. Her memory is also carried by the countless number of students who worked for her over the years at MSU.
Given her love of MSU and the color purple, we ask anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her to please wear something purple in the next couple weeks in her honor. The family would like to thank the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff of Mankato Clinic, Mayo Health System, Pathstone and the Ecumen Hospice team. Memorials may be made to Minnesota State University, Mankato Foundation, Echo Food Shelf or to the charity of your choice.