Bonnie Ruth Ives

February 22, 1926 – February 26, 2026

Bonnie R Ives resided in Portland, Oregon since 1950. She was born in Giltner, Nebraska on February 22, 1926 and was the fifth child born to Ervin and Florence Bish.

She died peacefully at her home with family present on February 26, 2026 in Portland, Oregon. She had just celebrated her 100th Birthday in her own home in Portland with many family and friends present to help her celebrate the big day. Bonnie herself said “You Touch A lot of People’s Lives in 100 Years”.

Bonnie grew up in Gilter Nebraska with her parents, one sister and four brothers on the family farm. She graduated from Giltner High School in 1943. After high school she attended Business College in Omaha Nebraska and worked there until 1945. This was war time and a challenge to travel arose and she along with two other girls left Omaha for Washington, DC to work in Civil Service. Fortunately, the war did not last long and they were without jobs and returned to Omaha where she worked at an insurance company. She worked there until 1950 when she was able to transfer to Portland, Oregon

In 1950 she met her future husband Thomas W Ives at a social youth group at First United Methodist Church in Portland. They were married on April 12, 1952 until his death in 1984. They had four children: Deanna Lynn Ives Voytilla, Celeste de la Cruz, Cooper Wilson and Gregory Ives. They enjoyed several family activities while the family grew up including camping, music, sports – cheering on the Reynolds Lancer sports teams, occasional trips to Nebraska for family reunions, and celebrating many holidays with the Ives Family. After the children left the nest Tom and Bonnie enjoyed square dancing, camping and traveling. They were members of the Good Neighbors Group a?liated with the First Methodist Church and enjoyed going to Camp Mcgruder two times a year with all the Good Neighbor Families, picnics, bowling and New Years Eve gatherings. The group was together for many years. Bonnie enjoyed living in Portland Oregon when the family could enjoy city life, the beach, Central Oregon/Bend desert and mountains.

Bonnie was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church and was a member of the Parkrose United Methodist Church in Portland since 1967. She was involved in many activities including WINGS, Discovering Portland and was the Secretary/Treasurer of the women’s group for several years. She provided homemade cookies for many church social activities.

Bonnie was at home raising her children until they graduated from high school. She then worked at ADT as the o?ce coordinator until her retirement in 1984. She kept busy during retirement with her church activities, stamp collecting, coin collecting, cooking, sewing and gardening.

Bonnie was preceded in death by her husband Thomas Ives, grandson Jacob Keever, Ervin and Florence Bish, sister Elsie (Pauline) Torgerson, brothers Cyril Bish, J William Bish, Alvin (Steve) Bish, and Eldon (Roy) Bish. She is survived by Gregory Ives, Cooper Wilson, Deanna and Vlad Voytilla, Bryan and Lindsey (Stetson) Voytilla, Lindsey Voytilla, Celeste de la Cruz, Tiah Keever and Merlin Carson, Phoebe Keever, Shani and Alex Cruz-Mansfield and Thomas Ives and numerous friends and extended family.

Private inurnment will be at Willamette National Cemetery. A memorial service will be held for a celebration of her life on August 12 at 2:30 at Parkrose United Methodist Church at 11111 N.E. Knott in Portland, Oregon. Funeral arrangements are provided by Omega Funeral and Cremation Services.

Donations can be made in Bonnie R. Ives name to Snow Cap (division of the Oregon Food Bank) or the American Cancer Society.