Bonnie Del Zacha

CORVALLIS - Bonnie (85) peacefully passed into the presence of her Lord and Savior, June 26th, 2025.  It was close to lunch time when Jesus came for her.  She was ready for a party in Heaven with her family and friends that went before her.

Bonnie was born in Hamilton, Montana, to Frank & Minnie Taulman in 1940. She grew up in the round house on Marcus Street that her dad built.   Bonnie graduated from Hamilton High School in 1958.  She married Walker E (Sonny) Mc Vicar in June of 1958. Sonny was killed in a tragic accident in December of 1958. Their daughter Edel was born in August of 1959.

In 1960, Bonnie’s brother Darryl introduced her to a friend of his, Russell Zacha.  They fell in love and were married in 1961.  Bonnie moved from the big city of Hamilton to live on a big ranch northeast of Corvallis.  Russell adopted Edel as his own daughter.  Their son Alan was born in 1963. They lived a great life on the ranch. Bonnie got into painting ceramics & before long she had her own kiln.  The business boomed.  She held classes for people to come and learn to do ceramics.   She & Russell invented the Bon-Del Sponge brush.  They acquired a US patent on it.  They manufactured the sponge brushes and traveled to shows across the country.  Bonnie was very artistic and published her original techniques.  She was featured in many ceramic magazines, & she won many awards for her work.  She was asked to teach her techniques all over the country & even went to Australia to teach there.  Her business turned into a wholesale supply company where she sold many unique items for the ceramic business. That business still lives on today as “Bon-Del Company”.

Bonnie loved horses.  She especially loved miniature horses and ended up getting the whole family involved. She raised miniature horses and miniature donkeys. She took them to shows across Montana. She also entered them in the local parades. The name of her ranch was “Bon D Tiny Hooves”.

As a family, they did a lot of fun things together.  They went boating, skiing, & motorcycle riding.  Bonnie had her own motorcycle.  They would all do an annual ride up to Burnt Fork Lake in the summer.

She loved all arts and crafts- knitting, cross stitching, & she also loved to shop.  It was hard to get her back in the car once she got into a store.  You could find her by the jingle of her bracelets. She wore at least a dozen at a time.  She preferred Sterling Silver to gold & loved turquoise and western wear.

She was a gift giver by nature, always making something special for her friends, family, and even strangers.  She loved giving.  She was the type that would make friends with everyone.  She always had a smile on her face.  She loved to have fun & loved family so much and getting together for parties and picnics.

She loved spending time with her grandkids, & enjoyed taking them shopping with her…  They would come out of the store with a cart full of fun things.

She is so greatly missed.  She is the one that held the family together by staying in touch with all the long-lost relatives.

Thank you to the faithful caregivers at Arron Care, she loved all of you.

She is survived by her daughter Edel (Pat) Howard of Hamilton; son Alan (Stacy) Zacha of Corvallis; Grandchildren Warren Nelson, Travis Nelson, Seth Smith, Huck Pfeiffer, Garrett (Jessica) Zacha, and Kara Walker.  Great grandchildren; Mackenzie, Delanie, Brytten, Trinity, and Collin.

She was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Russell Zacha; 1st husband Walker E. Mc Vicar; Her parents Frank and Minnie Taulman; her brother Darryl Taulman; her grandson Michael Zacha.

She will be greatly missed by everyone who knew her.

A celebration of life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 5th, 2025, at Daly-Leach Chapel with a reception to follow.  Burial at Riverview Cemetery to follow the reception. Condolences may be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com.