Donna Lee Bowman Bonomo, 77, died on January 19, 2020 at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home in Atlanta, GA of cancer after ten months in hospice.

Donna was born in Hartford, CT to the late Donald and Helen Bowman on October 8, 1942.  She graduated from Manchester High School with the class of 1960, and on July 29, 1967 married the love of her life, Pat Bonomo, at her family’s home in Coventry, CT.  She worked as a bookkeeper at Gampel Real Estate for many years before becoming a Mary Kay Consultant along with her mother and her sister, Bonnie. In 1995 she moved to Arizona where she enjoyed working in a local antique shop and later made fudge for the Boot Hill gift shop in historic Tombstone.  She continued to live and work in Arizona until she reluctantly retired in 2010 and moved to Atlanta, GA to be a full-time Grandma.

Although she may not have achieved much success in the conventional sense, Donna worked with dedication and integrity at every job she held including raising two children as a single parent. Ultimately her life was distinguished not by career accomplishments or awards, but by who she was as a person; by the courage and strength with which she persevered through financial hardship and significant health problems, while still finding the means to be compassionate and generous to others.   

In 1993 Donna began her decades long battle with breast cancer. She survived difficult treatments and carried on through recurrences in 1997, 2008, and 2017 despite the increasingly debilitating long term effects on her health and mobility. In 2019 when cancer returned, this time metastasizing in her right lung, her body was too frail to tolerate further treatment.  Her oncologist gently recommended hospice care. It was devastating, but as with every previous calamity, Donna picked up whatever pieces were left to her and kept on living. If she ever felt sorry for herself, it was rare and quickly set aside. She retained her sense of humor and compassion for others until all she had left was her will and her breath.  

Is this truly the end?  “End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take.”  Donna believed that when she did embark upon that path her sister, Bonnie, would be there to meet her and she would be reunited with those who went before her.

Donna follows her husband, Pat Bonomo (1973), her parents, Donald and Helen Bowman (1991, 1999), her sister, Bonnie Kelly (2001) and most recently by sister-in-law Annette (Nettie) Bowman (2019), and cousin, Evelyn Feder (January 3, 2020) who, like Donna, successfully fought breast cancer for over 20 years.  

Donna is lovingly remembered and dearly missed by her daughter, Lee Ann Bonomo and her husband Piya of Atlanta, GA; her daughter, Amanda Brown and her partner Mike of Cambridge, MA; her sister, Carol Murphy of Mt. Dora, FL, her brother, Gregory Bowman of Hyannis, NE, and her three beloved grandchildren: Thalia, Josephine, and Jack. She also leaves behind  much loved nieces, cousins, dear friends, and many others whose lives she touched profoundly in her own quiet way.     

We are so thankful to everyone that supported Donna in some way over the years, particularly those who helped carry her through the final months of her life.  The wonderful team at Weinstein Hospice along with the Sisters, staff, and volunteers at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home cared for Donna--and all those who come to them--with tremendous skill, love, and compassion.  They enriched the quality of her life and the ease of her death. Special thanks to her caregiver, Shay, and her Weinstein volunteer, Pat, who remained with Donna as companions and friends throughout her ten months in hospice.

If you are so moved, please consider making a donation in Donna’s name to the non-profit organizations who cared for her in the last months of her life.  If you prefer to make tributes directly, details are below: 

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Home Auxiliary 

PO Box 420273

Atlanta, GA 30342

Weinstein Hospice 

https://www.jewishhomelife.org/weinstein-hospice/get-involved/make-a-tribute-donation/