Bonievieve "Bonnie" Astrid Marie (Carlson) Dahlquist, 88, of Ellsworth, formerly of Woodbury, died Thursday, November 26, 2015, at the Parkview Manor Nursing Home in Ellsworth.  She was one of our treasures.  She lived a life of kindness, love, friendship and generosity.  Her journey began on March 28th, 1927 the first of three children to Carl & Violet Carlson.  She grew up in Minneapolis, MN and was a graduate of Roosevelt High School class of 1944.  She enjoyed learning, sewing, drawing, art, roller skating, and music. She was an honor roll student and leader at her school.  She enjoyed singing as part of "The Lucy Jade" operetta.  Being an excellent seamstress Bonnie sewed her own clothes in high school.
She met the love of her life Rohland "Rollie" A. Dahlquist while she was skating at a roller rink in St. Louis Park, MN.  What started as a simple skate turned into a love of a lifetime.  The two shared many wonderful adventures together as they loved to travel and vacation all over the US.  Bonnie married her sailor on March 19, 1949 in Minneapolis at the Bethesda Evangelical Free Church.  One of her highlights of the wedding was the flower girl, her 3 year old sister Lynn who she said stole the show. Bonnie & Rollie loved taking pictures, reading good books, flying model airplanes together, eating at Perkins & Applebees, and most importantly their family.
Though her most important relationship was with Jesus.  Bonnie was a student at Northwestern Bible Institute (now the U of Northwestern) where she grew in her faith.  She put God first and believed in the saving message of grace that Jesus freely offers.  She lived out a simple life of love filled by Jesus' love.  Billy Graham was one of her favorite pastors. She even got to sing with a Billy Graham crusade choir in the 60's.  She was a member of the St. Louis Park Evangelical Free Church and later the Hope Evangelical Free Church in Oakdale, MN.  She also was a mentor for Pioneer Girls, a group similar to Girl Scouts that helped empower young women in their faith. She was a beautiful singer and was a part of a sextet that joyfully sang in St. Louis Park.
Bonnie was a stay at home mom most of her life.  Before marrying Rollie, she was a bookkeeper at Northwestern Bank in downtown Minneapolis.  After her kids grew up, she worked at the Dayton's department store (now Macy's) which was a source of many of her thoughtful gifts to her family, always including a crisp $1 bill.
Bonnie loved deeply, and her last words were "I love you" when reminded of all her family. Some of the people she loved most were her husband of 66 years Rohland A. Dahlquist.  Together they had 2 beautiful children: Jacquelyn "Jackie" (Charles) Sieff (John "Jack") Boltjes and Wendy (Tom) Johnson.  She also loved her brother Duane (Lorraine) Carlson & her sister Lynn Payne.  She was the number one fan of her 12 grandkids: Kimberly Johnson, Kirsten Johnson, Ben (Janet, Erica) Sieff, Jennifer (Scott) Churilla, Nick (Brooke) Sieff, Chris Sieff, Jon Sieff, Adam (Lauren) Sieff, Zach Sieff, Amanda (Ryan) Lambertz, and Becca Sieff.  Bonnie very much loved her 6 great grandchildren too.  Bonnie was a wonderful aunt to Susan Martin, Peggy Peabody, Steven Hallstrom, Jill Martin and Stephen Payne.  She also loved her 4 step grandchildren and 7 step great grandchildren. We will all never know the number of prayers she prayed for all of us, but they were certainly felt.
Our Bonnie peacefully went to be with Jesus on November 26th, 2015 joining her parents Carl & Violet Carlson, and grandson Timothy Sieff.  Her great hope in Jesus is now a reality.  Together, we treasure her memory.
Funeral will be 12:30 pm Monday at the First Baptist Church, in Adrian, officiated by Pastor Adam Sieff. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Monday. Burial will be in the Ft. Snelling National Cemetery, in Minneapolis, at a later date.
Dingmann Funeral Home, in Adrian, is in charge of arrangements.

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