George A. Bonnema “Flower George,” age 74, of Luverne, Minnesota, died Tuesday, December 26, 2023, at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
George was born on July 18, 1949, in Canton, South Dakota, to Jay and Jennie (Baker) Bonnema. He grew up on a farm near Inwood, Iowa. He learned about farming and the saving work of Jesus from his family and fellow church members. During his youth he raised sheep, chicken, ducks, geese, hogs, cattle, and a horse.
After high school graduation George attended Kirkwood College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for horticulture and floral design. Upon graduation, he first demonstrated his career work ethic while looking for a job in Le Mars, Iowa. He walked into the local flower shop and asked if there were any job opportunities. The owner said he was too busy to talk because of a large funeral flower order. George said, “Give me a work space and a floral knife and I’ll help you get the order done.” He was hired.
One of his high school classmates, Corrine Van Tol, became his wife in 1970. They moved to Boone, Iowa, where Corrine worked as an elementary school teacher and George worked at the local flower shop.
George’s aunt, Ruth Caswell, from Rock Rapids, Iowa, had an acquaintance in Luverne, Minnesota, who told her the local flower shop was going to be up for sale. The business had been run poorly and was not in good condition. Aunt Ruth considered her nephew George to be the ideal new owner. The only problem was George and Corrine had just recently purchased and remodeled their first home and did not have the finances to purchase a business.
With aunt Ruth vouching for George, the local bank agreed to finance 100 percent of the purchase if George’s dad Jay would cosign on the loan. Jay was willing to do that. This was in 1974.
In Luverne they joined the American Reformed Church and met many new siblings in Christ. They welcomed their son Grant in 1976.
In 1987 George and Corrine purchased the house and property of Leonard and Edna Wulf to the east of the flower shop. They remodeled the house into its current configuration and expanded their gardens.
George’s well-known carrot cake was first used in 1993 when he began a new chapter of delivering care packages to church widows/widowers. He continued doing this every year after.
A few years later, George began taking steps to transition from fully employed with his business to retired, but still fully employed serving people. The major steps of this process were in 2002 when the landscape business was sold and in 2012 when the flower shop was sold.
George was a familiar face to almost everyone in Luverne and the surrounding area. In 2013 George began working part time at Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne where he used his gift of serving, comforting, and ministering to people. One of his many volunteer activities was helping to maintain the grounds and holiday decorations of the Luverne Hospice Cottage. Mentoring young people continued to be important to him. In recent years he maintained the Sanford Luverne Hospital Healing Garden.
As an avid gardener he and Corrine raised produce and fruit for the farmers market, a multitude of care packages, and to supply the Rock County Food Shelf.
In 2018 George became involved with the Luverne Senior Center. There he encouraged people to imagine how their organization could transform itself and enhance its mission into the future. Today the organization is known as Generations with a growing presence in the community and a bright future ahead.
What he wanted everyone to know is that he did all of these things out of gratitude for the saving work of Jesus Christ that he accepted as a young man. All of the good things he did for other people were not an attempt to accumulate enough good works during his life or an attempt to be good enough to earn a place in heaven. Those who knew him could attest to this because of the peace and joy he shared while being so busy.
George is survived by his wife, Corrine, of Luverne; his son, Grant, of Dearborn, Michigan; his siblings, Bev (Marvin) Arp of Inwood, Iowa, Sharon (Glenn) Davey of Sheldon, Iowa, and Judy (Jay) Van Engen of Tea, South Dakota; his sister-in-law, Ruth Van Tol (Corrine’s sister) of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; his in-laws, Mark (Corrine’s brother) and Sandra Van Tol of Inwood, Iowa; as well as many nieces, nephews and friends.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Jay and Jennie Bonnema.
Memorials may be directed to the Luverne Area Community Foundation – Generations Endowment Fund or the Rock County Food Shelf.
To view George’s life tribute, please visit www.hartquistfuneral.com