(Taught Biology In Edgerton School System)
Dennis L. Bonifas, age 86, of Edgerton, Ohio, passed away at 7:45 P.M. on Wednesday, August 16, 2023, in his home.
Mr. Bonifas was a graduate of Coldwater High School in Coldwater, Ohio, and received his bachelor’s degree from Findlay College.
He taught biology in the Edgerton Local School system for ten years, where he was instrumental in starting the wrestling program.
He then went on to form a partnership with Dencil Miller in the Bonifas-Miller Franklin Life insurance Agency.
He was active with insurance sales until his retirement in 2016. He was a member of St. Mary Catholic Church in Edgerton and K of C Council #1494.
A devoted husband, father, and grandfather, he was an avid fisherman and was faithful to his Catholic faith. He especially enjoyed spending his winters in Moore Haven, Florida, on Lake Okeechobee.
Dennis L. Bonifas was born on April 8, 1937, in Celina, Ohio, the son of Emmett and Doris (Pfoff) Bonifas.
He married his high school sweetheart, Janet H. Klosterman, on July 13, 1957, in Coldwater and she preceded him in death on February 25, 2016.
Survivors include his five children, Alan (Janet M.) Bonifas, of Swanton, Ohio, Jo Ann (Richard) Witsaman, Steven Bonifas, Denise (Douglas) Stark, all of Edgerton, and Dean Bonifas, of North Port, Florida; eight grandchildren, Dennis Alan and Katie Ann Bonifas, Leslie Ann Siebenaler and Lyndsi Lee Witsaman-Kalleberg, Benjamin Dean and Ian Alexander Bonifas, and Walter A. Rush III and Travis Ethan Rush; fifteen great-grandchildren; and two brothers, Douglas (Diane) Bonifas and Scott Bonifas, both of Celina; and three sisters, Roxanne (Jim) Boise, Teri Rodriguez, and Julie Hubert, all of Celina.
He was also preceded in death by his parents; a daughter-in-law, Elizabeth Hayward-Bonifas; one brother, Ed Bonifas; and two sisters, Linda Macke and Nita Thornsberry.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Monday, August 21, 2023, at 11:00 A.M. at St. Mary Catholic Church in Edgerton with Reverend Daniel Borgelt officiating. Interment will follow in St. Mary Catholic Cemetery, Edgerton. A celebration of Dennis’s life will be held on Sunday, October 8, 2023, from 1:00-4:00 P.M. in the St. Mary Catholic Church basement.
Memorials are requested to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to St. Mary School.
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