Margaret M. Bonney

Calling hours will be 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Cleveland Funeral Home, Sherman Street, Watertown. The burial will precede the funeral, Wednesday, May 18 at 9:30 at the Parish Cemetery. (Starting at Public Square, go northwest on Route 12 (Clayton Road) five miles.  Watch for Dump Road on the right.  Immediately after Dump Road, turn Right on Parish Road.)

The funeral will be held after the burial, at 11 AM at the First Presbyterian Church, 403 Washington Street, Watertown.

May 12, 2011 

WATERTOWN, N.Y.  —   Margaret (Peg) McArthur Bonney, 86, of Holcomb Street, Watertown, died May 11 at Syracuse University Hospital/Upstate Medical Center as the result of a fall down the stairs at home from which she never regained consciousness despite the expert care received from Guilfoyle Ambulance, Samaritan and Upstate hospitals. 

Mrs. Bonney, born February 27, 1925, in Yonkers, NY, was the daughter of Andrew F. McArthur and Alice Montgomery McArthur, Yonkers.  She graduated from Yonkers High School where she was a cheerleader and honor student.  She worked at Otis Elevator, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, and became the first female page at the New York Stock Exchange.  She received a full scholarship to Syracuse University.  After graduation, she became a social worker at the Ruth School for Girls in Seattle, Washington, and attended classes at the University of Washington. She later worked for the YWCA in Kansas City, MO before becoming Executive Director of the Watertown YWCA. She was proud to have been the first director to run the organization without help from the endowment.  

Mrs. Bonney married Warren R. Bonney on September 1, 1951 in Yonkers.  The couple lived first in Albany, then Liverpool, NY. They returned to Watertown in 1957. Mr. and Mrs. Bonney operated Bonney Realty from 1959 to 2010.  Mrs. Bonney became a Broker and a Certified Residential Specialist, a designation achieved by fewer than three percent of real estate agents nationwide. 

Mrs. Bonney was an energetic volunteer for Literacy Volunteers, the Adirondack Mountain Club at Heart Lake, the YWCA and Crescent Yacht Club.  She was a committed blood donor.  At First Presbyterian Church she served on the Finance Committee, helped broadcast services on the radio, and staffed the office. She served as Vice President of the AARP Monthly Club, was a member of the Essential Tremor Foundation and in the Jefferson County Historical Society.  She was an avid furniture refinisher, skier, sailor, hiker, cyclist, skater and swimmer. In colder months, she especially enjoyed working the polls at Sherman School during elections and shopping at the Big M where she saw all her neighbors. And in summer months, she stopped traffic on Holcomb Street with her flower garden.

Mrs. Bonney was pre-deceased by her brother, Donald McArthur and his wife Virginia of Southampton and Somers, and her sister Mary McArthur and her husband Thomas of Southampton; and her in-laws, George and Jane Bonney, Watertown.  She is survived by her loving husband of 59 years, Warren Bonney, and two daughters: Ann Bonney and her husband Paul Bouvier, Ellington, CT, and Dr. Claire Bonney Brullmann, Ph.D. and her husband Matthias Brullmann, Basel Switzerland.  She is also survived by grandchildren, Christopher Kramer, Ellington and Boston, and Emma Brullmann, Basel; nephews and nieces: Russell Bonney and his wife Kristie Bonney, Calcium; Donald McArthur, and his wife, Judy, Sebastian, FL; Robert McArthur and his wife Joanne, Cortlandt Manor; Nancy McArthur, Bronxville; Charles McArthur and his wife Maryann McArthur; Hastings on the Hudson, Joanne Zarras and her husband Ray, Southampton; cousins David and his wife Janet Bonney, Cape Vincent; and loved great nieces, nephews and step-grandchildren.

Calling hours will be 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 17, at Cleveland Funeral Home, Sherman Street, Watertown. The burial will precede the funeral, Wednesday, May 18 at 9:30 at the Parish Cemetery. (Starting at Public Square, go northwest on Route 12 (Clayton Road) five miles.  Watch for Dump Road on the right.  Immediately after Dump Road, turn Right on Parish Road.)

The funeral will be held after the burial, at 11 AM at the First Presbyterian Church, 403 Washington Street, Watertown.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the International Essential Tremor Foundation. P.O. Box 14005, Lenexa, Kansas 66285-4005 in memory of Peggy.