Bonnie Jo Meritt was born in Charter Oak, Missouri, on May 10, 1926, to Terry Cunningham “T. C.” Faughn and Mary Magdalene “Maggie” Ralph Faughn. She passed from this life on August 12, 2022, while in the tender loving care of the folks at Winchester Assisted Living in Bernie. She had resided there and at Central Gardens in Dexter for several years, after having moved from her own home in Dexter.
She joins her beloved husband Roy “Poss” Meritt, who died in 1969. Bonnie will be laid to rest at his side in the Dexter Cemetery. In addition to her parents, she also rejoins brothers Mendel Sexton, John Faughn, and Philip Faughn, along with her sister, Glenadair “Lady” Gromer. Only one sister, Betty Overbey of Turlock, CA, survives to remember how the Faughn family, like many others, survived the Great Depression and World War II as hardscrabble sharecroppers to become known later as the “Greatest Generation.” For much of that time, the Faughns lived in a cabin on the Floodway “ditch dump,” barely surviving yet always thriving on grueling work and through extraordinary resourcefulness.
Bonnie and her siblings had to carefully walk over the Floodway’s railroad trestle on their way to attend school in Charter Oak, with the youngest child always being carried on the shoulders of the eldest. Upon earning her eighth grade diploma, Bonnie went on to graduate from Gray Ridge High School with the Class of 1946. That summer, she and “Poss” settled into married life, while she completed two college courses that would enable her to begin her teaching career at West Charter Oak, where she taught the ABCs,123s, geography, science, history, music, art, and physical education to children in Grades 1-8. Throughout those years, she also found time to direct countless plays, raise funds at box suppers, and organize sporting events for her students. All this time, she continued her own education through college classes at night and during summer sessions.
During the consolidation of the county schools in the 1950s, Mrs. Meritt was reassigned to the elementary building at Gray Ridge, where she taught third grade. When the Gray Ridge and Essex school districts became Richland R-1 in the early 1960s, she moved her classroom to the new campus located between the two communities. In 1966, she earned her long-sought B. S. in Education from Arkansas State and continued to work at Richland until her retirement in 1988 after 42 years as a teacher. During her long career, she also taught night classes for adults who were seeking to further their education and earn diplomas. Like all elementary teachers, Mrs. Meritt received lots of presents from her students throughout the years, delighting in each gift and proudly displaying them for all to see. Some of these gifts were costly, some not, but it was a slightly-wilted flower picked by a little boy and planted in a tin can decorated in foil that she would fondly recall long after that boy had grown to be a man. Although Bonnie was never blessed with children of her own, she considered her students to be hers, enjoying their visits and taking immense pride in their accomplishments.
After her husband’s death, she moved from Gray Ridge to Essex and then to Dexter, making friends of neighbors and enjoying decorating each of her houses and yards along the way. Always known as a “snappy” dresser in her stylish clothing and high heels, she liked her “paint and powder.” Bonnie leaves a much-loved group of nieces and nephews including Linda Dowdy of Dexter, John “Skip” Faughn of Lake Havasu, AZ; Keith Overbey of Grass Valley, CA; Terry Gromer of Malden; and Carrie Hines of Turlock, CA. Known as “Aunt Jew Jew” to this group, she played an important role in their lives and cherished each of them, their children, and their children’s children.
For the last decades of her life, Bonnie was blessed with the devotion of Dr. Leslie Williams, who provided her with love and companionship every day until his death in 2021. Her family wishes to thank each and every one of the folks at Central Gardens, Winchester Assisted Living and Elara Caring Hospice, who provided her with outstanding TLC during the last few years and up until the final moments of her long life. She would want you to know that your work is important and much-appreciated.
A gathering of friends and friends will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 16, at Mathis Funeral Home in Dexter. The service will follow at 10 a.m. with Rev. Gary Gilbert officiating.
