Bonnie Lee Kistler

Bonnie Lee Kistler was born November 3, 1947, on her grandparents’ farm near Browns Store, Virginia. She peacefully returned home to the Lord on March 24, 2026. Bonnie lived a life defined by her love and unwavering devotion to her husband, son, family, and friends.

Bonnie and her husband Stan lived in Missouri, California, and Texas. They lived in California for 20 years and she worked at the Santa Anita Racetrack arranging meet-and-greets for the public to meet the jockeys and horse artists. She felt honored working with some of the world’s famous jockeys and horse artists, but she loved the horses the best. Leaving California, they moved to Texas, where she worked in the Registrar’s Office at Texas A&M University and enjoyed helping the students. After 20 years, she retired, and moved to Tallahassee, Florida, to be near her sister and family. In Tallahassee, she was an active member of All Saints Anglican Church, where she served on the Vestry and various Committees.

She had an adventurous spirit which was shaped by a lifelong love of travel. Bonnie traveled the world extensively with her husband Stan to Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Africa, Peru. They also had many travel adventures with her two sisters and their husbands to Hawaii, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Great Britain. Her adventures continued with her 2010 red Harley trike motorcycle which she rode all over the United States: Sturgis, South Dakota; the Four Corners Monument (Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah); Mesa Verde, Colorado; Key West, Florida; the Blue Ridge Parkway and the infamous Tale of the Dragon. When she wasn’t on an adventure, her passion was baking. Bonnie was always experimenting and creating desserts for family and friends to enjoy.

Bonnie is survived by her son, Christopher (Chris) Kistler and wife Agnieszka (Aga); her two sisters, Sarah Frances (Sissy/Frankie) Allen and husband Rick; Catherine Kelly and husband Monte; nieces Susan Kallem and husband Dan, Andrea Linville; nephews Charlie Cooke and wife Kayleigh, Nick Cooke, Bill Kelly and wife Becky; great and great-great nieces and nephews; and a loving extended family and friends she considered family. She is preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Richard Stanley (Stan) Kistler; her father, Charles Chester Cooke; her mother, Sarah Frances (Beatley) Cooke; and her brother David Lane Cooke.

A Celebration of Life will be held Friday, May 8, 2026, 11:00 a.m., at All Saints Anglican Church, 3945 North Monroe Street, Tallahassee, Florida.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Parkinson Foundation.