Quantcast

Former Relief Society leader Bonnie D. Parkin dies at age 84

 
Former Relief Society leader Bonnie D. Parkin dies at age 84
President Bonnie D. Parkin, Relief Society General President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints

President Bonnie D. Parkin, who served as the 14th Relief Society General President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2002 to 2007, died on July 28, 2025, at age 84.

Before her tenure as General President, Sister Parkin was a member of the Relief Society general board under Elaine L. Jack and served as Second Counselor to Young Women General President Janette Hales Beckham.

At the start of her service as Relief Society General President, Sister Parkin spoke about seeking guidance through prayer. “I received a strong witness that we, His daughters, need to know that He loves us,” she said during the General Relief Society Meeting on September 23, 2006.

“We need to know that He sees the good in us. Feeling His love encourages us to press forward, reassures us that we are His and confirms to us that He cherishes us even when we stumble and experience temporary setbacks.”

In an interview with President Julie B. Beck, who succeeded her as Relief Society General President, Sister Parkin said: “With God’s love, you can do just about anything required.”

She also encouraged women in the Church to recognize and share their experiences with divine love: “How I feel His love may be different from how you experience it. The key is to come to understand how you feel that love. And once you’ve felt it, be willing to share it.”

Sister Parkin is the third former Relief Society General President to die within six months; Mary Ellen Smoot died in February and Elaine L. Jack in June.

Bonnie Rae Dansie was born on August 4, 1940, in Murray, Utah. She was one of five children born to Jesse Homer and Ruth Martha Butikofer Dansie. Her upbringing included working on her family’s farm and at their store. In a 1994 interview with Church News she recalled: “My mother trusted me, and I feel that trust is one of the greatest gifts that she gave me. I felt a real obligation to never disappoint her. … [She] taught us, ‘Do what is right; let the consequences follow.’”

She remembered a Christmas during her youth when her family shared what little they had with another family in need: “I remember one Christmas specifically,” Sister Parkin recalled. “It was Christmas Eve, and we heard of a family who had nothing. We did not have a lot of extra things either, but we did have fruit that was bottled. We had meat because we had our own cattle. We had some oranges. We each gave one of our own toys or possessions.

“My mother did not really get involved in all this. She let us plan the whole thing. We delivered the packages that night. I drove the car. My brothers jumped in the ditch because the family opened the door so soon. The kids were thrilled — there was something for Christmas.”

Sister Parkin graduated from Utah State University in 1962 with a degree in elementary education and early childhood development before teaching third grade at Hannah Holbrook Elementary School in Bountiful.

During college she participated in several organizations including Sponsor Corps and Kappa Delta Sorority; she also held leadership roles such as vice president of her senior class.

She met James L. Parkin on a blind date while he was attending medical school; they married on July 1, 1963, in Salt Lake Temple and had four sons and eighteen grandchildren together before his death in 2023.

The couple moved to Seattle for his residency where Sister Parkin deepened her personal gospel study: “that’s when I really started making gospel study a daily process in my life,” she said.

Her service within the Church included roles such as stake Young Women president, ward Primary president, ward Relief Society president and counselor, Sunday School teacher, and mission leader (with her husband) for England London South Mission from 1997-2000.

She also participated actively outside church settings—serving on community councils and parent-teacher associations among other groups.

As Relief Society General President she emphasized strengthening families: “Everyone belongs to a family, and every family needs to be strengthened and protected,” Sister Parkin taught during a Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting in 2006.

“My greatest help in becoming a homemaker came first from my own mother and grandmother and next from the Relief Society sisters in the different wards where we have lived. I learned skills; I saw modeled the joys that come from creating a home where others want to be,” she said.

With then-Young Women General President Susan W. Tanner she introduced monthly combined opening exercises for both organizations’ members.

Reflecting on her time with Relief Society during an October 2004 general conference address she stated: “My belonging to Relief Society has renewed, strengthened and committed me to be a better wife and mother and daughter of God. My heart has been enlarged with gospel understanding and with love of the Savior and what He’s done for me.”

“Jesus is the Christ,” she testified. “He is my Savior, my Redeemer, and I’m ever grateful for His redeeming love and His obedience to our Heavenly Father.”

A viewing will take place Friday evening August 8th at Salt Lake Parleys Stake Center followed by funeral services Saturday morning August 9th at same location.