Bonnie June Dumler

Bonnie June Dumler, the daughter of Earl and Anna (Zikmund) Waldron, was born on January 15, 1935, in rural Nuckolls County, NE. She passed away at Parkview Haven in Deshler, NE, on May 6, 2026, at the age of 91 years, 3 months, and 21 days.

During her younger years, Bonnie attended Shiloh country school in Nuckolls County, and then the family moved to a farm near Sedan when she was in the second grade and she attended Aurora country school, graduating from the eighth grade there. She attended high school in Davenport and graduated in 1952. From high school, she attended Grand Island Business College for a while, and also worked as a secretary for the Nebraska Department of Roads. She wanted more education, and attended the Omaha School of Electronics and graduated from there to go on to Washington, D.C., to work for Civil Service as a special typist for the Bureau of the Navy.

In August of 1955 she traveled to Germany to marry Kenneth Carl Dumler. They were wed on January 20, 1956, in Zirndorf, Germany, by the German law in the Ratzkeller (courthouse), and immediately following that ceremony, they repeated their vows at the U. S. Army Chapel. They lived on the economy for a while, and then moved into army quarters until February of 1958, when they returned to the United States and were stationed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.

Their stay in Maryland lasted until July of 1959, and they were ordered to Fort Sill, OK, remaining there until Kenneth received orders for Vietnam in October of 1965. During their stay in Fort Sill, Bonnie was also active in their church, teaching Sunday School, serving as Secretary for the Ladies of the Church, and was a member of the Altar Guild. In her church in Davenport she also served on the Altar Guild for several years and taught Sunday School. She was an officer in the Enlisted Wives Club at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and was to be their president when they moved to Nebraska. Bonnie served as a Girls Scout leader in both Oklahoma and Nebraska.

While Kenneth was in Vietnam, Bonnie and their three children lived in Davenport, where she rented a house and oversaw the building of the house they resided in until their deaths. When Kenneth returned from Vietnam and retired from the military, he found a job on the Union Pacific Railroad and Bonnie went to work at the Davenport Public School as Secretary from January 1969 until August of l990, when she retired.

Upon her retirement, she became quite active in the many Veteran organizations that both she and Kenneth were members of. She was proud to be a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Military Order of the Purple Heart Auxiliary, the VFW Auxiliary, the Eight et Forty, a member of the 2nd Division Korean War Branch, and served as an Admiral in the Navy for the Great State of Nebraska. Many offices were held by Bonnie in these organizations, and she held most of the offices before becoming president of each one of them. She was the State President for the American Legion Auxiliary, the Military Order of the Purple Heart and Chapeau for the Eight et Forty. She organized the auxiliary for the 2nd Division Korean War Branch and was their president for five years. She was an American Legion Junior Auxiliary leader for the Unit, and for the Department of Nebraska for several years, and served one year as an assistant in the Northwest Division. Her greatest honor was when she was elected National President of the Military Order of the Purple Heart in August 2002, in Portland, Maine. She and Kenneth traveled to many local, state, and national conventions for all of the organizations, and have many acquaintances across the United States. She has also served as Parliamentarian on the state level for the American Legion Auxiliary three different times. For the Purple Heart, she served their National Organization as Parliamentarian from 2005-2008 and 2010-2011. She also enjoyed judging parliamentary procedure for contests at the school.

All of the privileges she had for the Veterans Organizations was because she was the wife of a Military man. In 1993, Kenneth became quite ill and Bonnie drove him to his many appointments at the VA in Omaha and Grand Island. During these years instead of sitting in the waiting room she became a volunteer at the Grand Island VA Medical Center, doing filing, escorting, and helping out in the recreation hall. She served on the Volunteer Committee and was soon selected to serve on the executive board of which she became the Chairman, and served in that capacity for several years. She was also known in the Medical Center as the “Ice Cream Lady” serving soft serve ice cream at least once a month, and also for special occasions. Sometimes during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, she would visit the Nebraska Veterans Home for their special activities. On the National Level for the Purple Heart Auxiliary, she served as Deputy for the Volunteers for three years. From l980 -2007, she organized the American Red Cross Blood Drive when they visited the Davenport area twice a year.

In August of 2004, Bonnie was selected as an Admiral in the Great State of Nebraska Navy by Governor Mike Johanns. Kenneth soon followed with an Admiralship in 2007 by Governor Dave Heineman. They were members of the Grand Island Port, and Bonnie became their Administrative Officer in June 2006. Kenneth and Bonnie enjoyed traveling to all of these special events during the years. They traveled back to Germany on their 25th Wedding Anniversary, and then again in 1994 to Vienna, Austria.

Bonnie enjoyed her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, when they visited or called on the phone as was the case for those that lived in Washington state. At home she had a large garden that got smaller as the years passed but especially liked mowing the lawn on her riding mower.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Kenneth, parents-in-law and sisters-in-law Corinne Weyhrich, Connie Cogger, Elise Holtzen, brothers-in-law Robert Shuck, Martin Dumler, Richard Dumler, Dave Wehrich, Bill Schlitman, niece Melody Hopper, granddaughter Rebecca Dumler Avello, sister Peggy Schlitman.

She is survived by their three children, Cindy Dumler of Cheney, Washington, Mark Dumler of Hastings, NE, and Jon Dumler of Fairfield, NE., 7 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, 6 great great grandchildren and many other relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM at Christ’s Lutheran Church in Davenport, NE. Burial will be at the Davenport City Cemetery.

Visitation will be held at the Urbauer Funeral Home Visitation Chapel in Davenport on Friday, May 15, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Family will greet friends from 6:00-8:00 PM.

Memorials are requested to the family, to be designated at a later date, and may be mailed in care of the family to Price Funeral Home, PO Box 187, Hebron, Nebraska 68370.

Urbauer-Price Funeral Home of Davenport is assisting the family with arrangements. www.priceurbauerahrendts.com