Bonnie Bixler

Bonnie Sue Bixler, 94, of Savannah, passed from this life on Wednesday, January 7. She was born on September 14, 1931, in Seminole, Oklahoma, to David Hamilton Welch and Ora (Paden) Welch.
She attended high school at Chelsea, Oklahoma, then moved in her senior year graduating from Watonga High School in 1949.
She attended classes at Southwestern State College in Weatherford, Oklahoma, where she received a Cosmetology Certification. In her working career she practiced hairdressing and was married on April 16, 1954 in Norman, Oklahoma. After marrying she chose motherhood and became a stay at home mom and homemaker living in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In 1969 she moved to Savannah, Tennessee, where she resided for the rest of her life.
Bonnie was active in the community and enjoyed fine arts, she taught beginners painting classes, specifically oil painting, and was a charter member during the forming of the Savannah Art Guild. She also volunteered to teach illiterate adults to read, continuing to change lives at a personal level. In her spare time she loved knitting, sewing and continued to enjoy her individual art paintings, but most importantly spending time with her family and loved ones.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert W. Bixler; her twin sister Betty Lue, a brother, Eugene Hamilton Welch; a half-brother, Melvern Welch and a half-sister, Helen PettyJohn. She is survived by her son COL, U.S. Army (Ret.) Douglas H. Bixler and daughter-in-law Melissa; her daughter and son-in-law, Roxanne and Tim Willoughby; eight grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and five great-great grandchildren.
Services celebrating her life were held on Saturday, January 10, at Love & Truth Church of Savannah.
Graveside services were held on Saturday, January 17, at the Independent Order of Odd Fellows IOOF Cemetery, in Watonga, Oklahoma.