Obituary

Bond, Jackie Ray, Mrs. (Mary Ruth Shannon Stoneham)

Mary Ruth Shannon Stoneham Bond, 87, of Pinole, Calif, passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus on Feb. 15, 2018. The youngest of nine children, she was born in Clarendon, Texas, on Feb. 26, 1930, to Floyd and Linnie Shannon. She grew up on a farm in a close, loving family before moving to Plainview, Texas, where she graduated from high school. She attended Wayland Baptist College and the University of Texas before receiving her degree in Home Economics from Texas Tech University. Mary Ruth taught school in Plainview, and in 1952 she married John Donald Stoneham and raised two children. John preceded her in death in 1978. She married her second husband, Jackie Ray Bond, in 1992, and they moved to Lake Kiowa, Texas. Jack preceded her in death in 2008, and she left her beloved Texas and moved to California to live near her daughter in 2015. Mary Ruth taught school for more than fifteen years and was always engaged in the communities in which she lived.

Faith, family, and friendship were the cornerstones that guided how Mary Ruth lived her life. Her favorite Bible passage was "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." She put her faith to the test when nursing both her husbands through long bouts of cancer. She was truly a good and faithful servant whose devotion was evident in the way she treated others. She never met a person she didn't like or to whom she wasn't kind. Mary Ruth was an active member of First Baptist Churches in Plainview and Gainesville, Texas. Besides her relationship to God, her family was her most precious jewel. She finally became a grandmother at age eighty-one and cherished her grandchildren with all her heart. She loved her eighteen nieces and nephews as if they were her own. She was a dedicated, loving mother to her children and step-children. A loyal friend, she always saw the good in others and sought to ease their burdens in any way she could. Earlier in her life, she was active in the Plainview Chamber of Commerce Red Coats, PEO, and WMU. She loved playing bridge, painting, decorating, shopping, and cooking for family and friends.

Mary Ruth is survived by her daughter, Dr. Donna Stoneham of Pt. Richmond, CA, and her son, John Ronald Stoneham of New York, NY, as well as her daughter-in-law, Julie Nestingen, and her son-in-law, Kenji Yoshino, and her grandchildren, Sophia Anne Stoneham-Yoshino and Lucas Robert Stoneham-Yoshino. She is survived by her siblings Rex Oran Shannon of San Antonio, TX; Nell Shannon Berry of Universal City, TX; and William Floyd Shannon, Jr. of Lubbock, TX; as well as her sisters-in-law Bobbie Shannon and Maxine Shannon, and brother-in-law John Harrington; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A celebration of Mary Ruth's life will be held at First Baptist Church, Family Life Chapel in Plainview, Texas on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 11 a.m. Visitation will take place at Kornerstone Funeral Directors at 3605 SW 3rd St., Plainview, TX, from 4-7 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 23, and interment will take place with family at Plainview Memorial Gardens prior to the memorial service. The family would like to express deep appreciation to the many people who helped Mary Ruth in the last years of her life including Betty Morrison, Diane Hutchison, James and Audrene Robison, Lisa Houck, Rhonda Baldwin, Pat Carrington, the staff at Bay Park Senior Living, the ladies of Emerald Care, and the staff of the ICU at Alta Bates Hospital. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Seva Foundation in Berkeley, Calif. (http://www.seva.org) and Wayland Baptist University in Plainview https://www.wbu.edu/.