July 11, 1922 ~ March 4, 2021
Bonnie Marie (Braymen) Ruling was born July 11, 1922 in Omaha, Nebraska. She died March 4, 2021 at Lincoln Glen in San Jose, California, at age 98.
Bonnie was the daughter of Rev. Walter Clarence Braymen and Bertha Luella (Murphy) Braymen. Bonnie was adopted into the Braymen family when her father brought her home to his wife, Bertha, from a minister’s meeting. Bertha finally had a daughter and Earl Eugene, the youngest of the six Braymen brothers would have a playmate. Earl Eugene sadly died in 1923 and Bonnie grew up the youngest Braymen with five doting older brothers: Paul, Merrill, Clark, Lawrence and Clarence Braymen.
She attended high school in Omaha where her father served as a minister at the Lefler Methodist Church, but as was the custom of the Methodist Church in those days, her father had served in many churches in eastern Nebraska, so she moved frequently.
Bonnie went to work for a telephone company in Omaha after graduating high school. She then worked as a telephone operator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before joining United Airlines as a reservations agent in 1948. She became a stewardess in 1949 and eventually worked as a stewardess for Vice Presidents Alben Barkley and Richard Nixon. She met a variety of well-known lawmakers during her time with United.
It was on a Christmas Eve flight in 1958 that she met the love of her life F. Charles Ruling. They married in 1960 and lived in Washington, D.C., and a suburb of Philadelphia until Charlie retired as a vice president from General Electric to Saratoga, California. Charlie died in 1993.
Bonnie frequently travelled to visit her brothers and their families in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Texas and Washington. She had a great love of her family and her beloved dogs, Gabby, Barney and Marney. Bonnie enjoyed entertaining her family, visiting with her neighbors, shopping at the Stanford Shopping Center and keeping sharp with her crossword puzzles and word finder games.
A private memorial service and celebration of life will be held at Wyuka in June.
Our condolences go out to the family and friends of Pam Marker. I worked with her when she was employed at the Nebraska Dept of Education. She will be missed. Always so happy and thoughtful.