Bonnie Lee (Mull) Hadley, 72, passed away from an unexpected illness on Friday, October 15th, 2021 surrounded by her family.
Born on November 2nd, 1948 in Jeffersonville, Indiana to John Lee Mull, Sr. and Pauline Betty (Dismon) Mull.
Bonnie was proud to be one of the students who were considered the very first 1st grade class in 1954 to attend Sacred Heart School of Jeffersonville. It was there that she began her lifelong love and devotion of her Catholic faith. She is a graduate of Jeffersonville High School and attended Indiana University Southeast as well as Catherine Spalding College, in efforts to pursue a career in nursing.
Bonnie is preceded in death by her mother Pauline Betty (Dismon) Mull, her father John Lee Mull, Sr., and her fraternal twin brother John Lee “Butch” Mull, Jr. She is survived by her sisters Elaina Brownstein, Saundra (Mull) Groh (Ken), her only child Jennifer Lee “Hadley” Goetzinger (Luke), her three grandsons John Henry Graff, Jr. (Jillian), Robert Miles Graff, and Patrick Hadley Graff, as well as many nieces, nephews, and cousins. She loved them all very much.
For the past 49 years (beginning in her early 20’s) Bonnie suffered terribly with severe mental illness, as well as the ravages of many failed treatments and failed medications. It robbed Bonnie of a life that most of us take for granted. Mental illness is an ever-evolving challenge for those who endure it, as well as those who love and care for them. To all of you who took care of her as a patient during those many decades, the family is forever grateful.
Bonnie struggled with untreated depression and anxiety as she grew up. She leaned heavily on her faith in God and her beloved sister Sandy to survive those years. It is difficult to describe the amazing person Bonnie was before mental illness took complete control. She was a simple person yet so complex, full of love and compassion for all living beings. When Bonnie was a young 17, she gave birth to her daughter, Jennifer. “Jenny” became her greatest achievement and she was her happiest and most at peace during the years that she took care of her child, showing Jenny what an incredible, good, kind, and loving person a mother should be. Bonnie would tell Jenny throughout her life, “Sweetheart, you were the best thing that ever happened to me”. To this day, her daughter views those critical formative years as having had the ultimate privilege of such a mother, she remembers her “Momma” as being the center of her little universe loving and admiring her mother more than words can describe. The family’s true loss of Bonnie began the day the mental illness took relentless hold of her. The Bonnie we all knew and loved dearly, vanished. Her dear cousin, Yvonne, who she grew up with described it best, “It was like our Bonnie was there one day, and the next day she was gone”. That incredible loss is one that those of us who knew and loved her, have never recovered from.
Bonnie was goodness, kindness, acceptance, and love personified, those behaviors will continue to live on within her daughter, her grandsons, and for generations to come. Simple acts of love and kindness will continually be attributed to this wonderful soul. If you would like to honor her, please consider giving a little extra time, love, kindness, and understanding to those around you, including strangers. She would have loved that gift more than anything else.
Per Bonnie’s wishes, she was cremated. The family has chosen private gatherings to celebrate her life.
For 49 years she consistently told her family that she “just wanted to go home”. Bonnie finally made it.
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