Bonnie Bain Killam

Memorial services for Bonnie Bain Killam, 84, of Lufkin will be held Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary of First United Methodist Church with Rev. Dr. Jerome Brimmage officiating and Reverend Laura Campbell assisting. Cremation arrangements are under the direction of Carroway Funeral Home.

Bonnie Sue Bain was born August 11, 1932 in Keechi, Leon County, Texas to the late Verner Lloyd (Ted) and Frances Hester Pate Bain, and died Monday, June 12, 2017 in Lufkin. She grew up in Centerville, the county seat of Leon County, and graduated as Valedictorian in 1950.

During her time in Centerville she joined the Methodist Church and was a member of the Youth Choir and the Methodist Youth Fellowship. She was Senior Class President, Editor of the Annual, and a cheerleader.

She then attended The University of Texas and graduated with a BA in Bacteriology. At UT, she was involved in the Wesley Foundation, (the Methodist Student movement), as a Wesley Player (drama) and a worker in the organization. Upon graduation, she went to work at the Dallas City Health Department until June of 1955 when she married Wilton Hays Killam of Lufkin. They made their home east of Lufkin and were blessed with 3 sons, Bob ‘56, Bil ’59, and Steve ’60.

She then became a volunteer. She served as President of Lufkin Junior High East, Lufkin High, and the Lufkin City Council of PTA’s. She also became a Den Mother of Pack 131 and was the first woman honored by the East Texas Area Council, Boy Scouts of America, with a Silver Fawn Award, (the women’s Silver Beaver). She became active in the Women’s work of the United Methodist Church and served in the local church and in the Nacogdoches District as an officer, the District as President, and as the Texas Annual Conference Vice President for 4 years. In 1976, she was nominated to serve as President of the South Central Jurisdiction of United Methodist Women, an eight state area of the US.

She was also elected a Director of the United Methodist Church General Board of Global Ministries, the Mission arm of the Church.

The World Division sent her with two groups of directors to areas of Africa\Europe. She traveled with delegations to West Africa, (Sierra Leone and Liberia), and to Europe, (Switzerland and Austria), where she met with fellow Methodists to work through common problems.

She was also a director of St. Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, a Board member of Lydia Patterson Institute of El Paso and Mt. Sequoia Methodist Assembly (the Jurisdiction Camp) in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

She was named the first woman to be the Foreman of a Grand Jury in East Texas by Judge David Walker.

She also served as President of numerous Lufkin Organizations, the Lufkin Music Study Club, the Angelina College Service League, the Lufkin Kiwanis Club and others.

She was active in Lufkin’s First United Methodist Church, where she sang in the Chancel Choir and was a loyal Sunday school attendee. She also served on many of the Church Committees including Finance and the Pastor Parish, and especially the Missions Committee where she went to Mexico to build homes for people.

Always interested in sports, she kept score for many years for the Lufkin Youth Baseball. She helped her husband film the Lufkin Panther football games for many years, but her favorite team(s) were her beloved Longhorns. Even during her final days at PineCrest she had her television tuned to The Longhorn Network.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 57 years, Wilton Hays Killam; her parents; her sister, Mary Francis Bain; and her grandson, Patrick Scott.

She is survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Ted and Jean Bain of Centerville; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Allen and Ruth Killam of Durham, North Carolina; sons and daughters-in-law, Bob and Scottie Killam of El Campo, Bil and Wendy Killam and Rev. Steve and Joy Killam of Lufkin; granddaughter and grandson-in-law, Meagan and Travis Hogg of El Campo; grandsons and granddaughters-in-law, Dustin and Leslie Stewart of Bastrop and Adam and Tashina Scott of Plano; grandsons, Ben, Grider and Michael Killam of Lufkin; great-grandsons, Hudson, Brazos and Paxon Hogg of El Campo; and nieces and nephews.

Honorary pallbearers are present and past members of Lufkin Noon Kiwanis Club and the Wednesday WAGS.

Memorials may be made to the Patrick Scott Memorial Scholarship Fund of First United Methodist Church,805 E. Denman Avenue, Lufkin, Texas 75901 or Lufkin Noon Kiwanis Club Scholarship Fund, P. O. Box 155005, Lufkin, Texas 75915.

Memories and condolences may be added at www.carrowayfuneralhome.com.

Carroway Funeral Home, Lufkin, directors.