{"id":295229,"date":"2025-08-20T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-20T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=295229"},"modified":"2025-08-21T11:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T16:05:17","slug":"bonnie-van-bruggen-monday-august-18-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/?p=295229","title":{"rendered":"Bonnie Van Bruggen – Monday August 18, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bonnie Van Bruggen, age 87, went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on August 18, 2025.  She passed away peacefully surrounded by her family at Legacy Place in Valley City, ND.  A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, August 26th at Grace Free Lutheran Church in Valley City.  Visitation will be held on Monday, August 25th from 6:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Grace Free Lutheran Church.  A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM Monday evening at the church.  Interment will be in Memory Gardens Cemetery.  An online guestbook and livestream of Bonnie\u2019s service will be available at www.lerudmathias.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonita \u201cBonnie\u201d Jean Aaker, the daughter of Ove and Thelma (Erickson) Aaker, was born July 28, 1938 in Valley City, ND.  She attended Valley City schools and graduated from College High in 1956.  After graduation, she briefly worked at the Sheyenne Care Center, a job she loved so much that she continued to volunteer there for many years.  Bonnie\u2019s life changed when she met Eldwyn Van Bruggen on a blind date set up by his brother, Vernon.  Eldwyn had just returned from military training and was eager to meet the woman of his dreams.  They dated for a short while and were married on October 4, 1957, at First Lutheran Church in Valley City.  They started their life together on a farm near Litchville before settling in Valley City, where they raised four children.  Bonnie\u2019s role as a mother was her greatest joy, and she dedicated herself to her children, shuttling them between school, sports, church, and many other activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A lifelong member of Grace Free Lutheran Church in Valley City, Bonnie was very involved in church life, working with Sunday school, summer Bible school, and WMF.  Together with Eldwyn, she also played a key role in distributing Bibles through the Gideons, reaching hotels, hospitals, and other places in need.  Bonnie and Eldwyn were also instrumental in establishing a new Free Lutheran Church in Mesa, Arizona.  In addition to her dedication to family and faith, Bonnie had a variety of interests.  She enjoyed riding horses in her youth, tending to her garden, and, of course, having her daily coffee (her travel CB handle was \u201cPercolator\u201d).  She loved connecting with others, whether through long phone conversations or sharing her gift of music. Bonnie was a proud member of her church choir and performed as a soloist for weddings and funerals.  Her love for angels, butterflies (often wearing one in her hair), and bright colors was reflected in her joyful spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonnie is survived by her devoted husband, Eldwyn; her sister, Donna Hass; four children, Howard (Karen) Van Bruggen, Dan (Nancy) Van Bruggen, Laura (Russ) Greb, Myron (Lisa) Van Bruggen, and; 10 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Eldwyn\u2019s parents, Henry and Hattie Van Bruggen, her brother-in-law Emil Hass, and her nephew Tom Hass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bonnie will be remembered for her deep love for Jesus. Bonnie\u2019s legacy of faith, love, and service to others will live on in the hearts of those who knew her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Memorial contributions can be made to The Gideons Intl. in memory of Bonnie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bonnie Van Bruggen, age 87, went home to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on August 18, 2025.  She passed away peacefully surrounded by her family at Legacy Place in Valley City, ND.  A funeral service will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, August 26th at Grace […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":295230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-295229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=295229"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":295231,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295229\/revisions\/295231"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/295230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=295229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=295229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/csinewsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=295229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}