A memorial service is coming later this week for Dr. Mary Winstead Bonner.
Bonner died July 15 at the age of 94. Emporia State University is inviting the public to remember Dr. Bonner at a 3 p.m. service Friday at the Sauder Alumni Center, located at 1500 Highland Street.
Drs. Thomas and Mary Bonner were the first two African-American faculty members at ESU with Tom Bonner joining the mathematics faculty in 1960. Mary joined the Teachers College in 1964, retiring in 1986. She remained active in the campus community even in retirement, receiving the Ruth Schillinger Award in 1998 for extraordinary contribution to the women of Emporia State over a sustained period of time. In 2000, the couple also received the ESU Presidential Award for Distinguished Service to Diversity. The Bonner & Bonner Diversity Lecture Series was established in their honor.
Friday’s memorial will also be livestreamed. A link to that livestream is available here: https://livestream.com/
