Deweenta "Winnie" Bones

DeWeenta "Winnie" Bones, 92 of Parker died Sunday, April 24, 2022 at Avera Prince of Peace Retirement Community.  Funeral services will be at 10:30am Friday, April 29, 2022 at the First Baptist Church in Parker.  Burial will precede services at the Rosehill Cemetery, Parker.  Visitation will be from 5-7pm Thursday evening at the church with a Prayer Service at 7:00pm.  Arrangements by Hofmeister Jones Funeral Home.

Memorials maybe directed to the First Baptist Church, Wounded Warriors Project or Doctors Without Borders.

DeWeenta “Winnie” Gray Bones, 92, went home to heaven on Sunday, April 24, 2022 at Avera Prince of Peace Retirement Community. She was born on August 9th, 1929 to Doctor Howard and DeWeenta Gray in Rochester, Minnesota, where she was also raised. Her father worked as a surgeon at the Mayo Clinic and her paternal grandfather served as president of the Union Pacific Railroad. Winnie graduated from Rochester High School and then attended Pine Manor Junior College and Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School, both located in the Boston, Massachusetts area. Following her marriage to Walter Bones Jr in 1950, they moved to rural Parker, South Dakota, where he was managing Bones Hereford Ranch, Inc., a family farm operation. Secretarial skills were put on hold while raising a family of four sons and three daughters, but in 1970, she began working in the ranch office and continued her involvement there until 2015.

Winnie was a member and past state president of the SD CattleWomen and the SD Hereford Women, charter member and past state president of the American Hereford Women, member of the national CattleWomen, member of the Mayflower Society, Sioux Empire Genealogical Society, the New England Historical Genealogical Society, and since 1991, was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution where she served as regent of the Mary Chilton Chapter. She was proud of her heritage, tracing her family’s ancestry back to the American Revolution and even the Mayflower voyage. She volunteered for several years at Sioux Valley Hospital (now Sanford Hospital) and served as clerk of First Baptist Church of Parker.

Several honors were awarded to Winnie, including S.D. CattleWoman of the Year, American Hereford Association Outstanding Woman of 1989, and matriarch of the 1995 Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce Farm Family of the Year. The Bones family was also awarded the Family Farm Business Heritage Award in 2004 and was the national runner-up in 2005.

Winnie enjoyed working in her beautiful yard, traveling the world (she visited all 50 states and 38 foreign countries), cheering on her family at their sporting events, knitting, quilting, reading, genealogy research, jigsaw puzzles and crossword puzzles. Treasured by her family, she will be especially remembered for her feisty, strong spirit, love for her family, humility, and commitment to serving her community. She was preceded in death by her husband, Walter Bones Jr,  daughter, Catherine Bones Van Hove and brother Howard K Gray Jr.   She is survived by Walter III (Janis) Bones, Lyle (Deb) Van Hove, Steve (Sandra) Bones, Jim (MaryPat) Bones, Judy (Tom) Grady, John (Kimberly) Bones, and Susan (Jim) Lammers, as well as sixteen grandchildren and twenty-seven great-grandchildren.

Memorials may be directed to the First Baptist Church of Parker, Wounded Warriors Project or Doctors Without Borders.