Keith Bonnsetter

Keith Bonnstetter, 52, died unexpectedly of natural causes Sunday morning while out for a run.

Funeral services and Mass of Christian Burial for Keith will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, September 26, 2020 at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church, Davenport.

The Mass will be livestreamed on St. Paul’s Facebook page.  Burial will be in Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Davenport.  Visitation will be held Friday from 4 until 7 p.m. at the Halligan-McCabe-DeVries Funeral Home, downtown Davenport with the Rosary at 3:30 p.m. that all are welcome to pray.  The rosary as well as the Mass will be livestreamed by visiting Keith’s obituary at www.hmdfuneralhome.com Everyone attending services must wear a mask and social distancing will be adhered to. All are welcome in person.

Keith was born in Cylinder, Iowa on Mar. 21, 1968 to Henry and Carol Bonnstetter.

He married Marsha (Shaw) on June 8, 1991 and is the proud daddy of Claire (Davenport). He is also ‘Bonn’ to hundreds, perhaps thousands of high school students who were truly ‘his kids’.

Keith was as wonderful as he was unique. He obtained a B.A. and Master’s degree in teaching Spanish from the University of Northern Iowa. He was in his 30th year of teaching. He brought joy, fun and the love of Jesus to his classroom and was loved by students and staff alike. He was a champion of the underdog and a ready friend to anyone who needed one. He always seemed to know when students needed a listening ear, a word of encouragement or even a bit of tough love.

He also enjoyed working part time at Natural Grocer where he was loved by customers and coworkers.

Keith’s Catholic faith was extremely important to him. He tried to live his life as an example of being a Christian in deed as well as in name. He routinely ignored what he wanted in order to do for Claire and Marsha (or his Margrits, as he affectionately called her) what he thought they wanted or was best for them.

Keith had a big personality and a bigger heart. He was an excellent dog trainer and loved and took care of Snickers, Cubby and Ernie as his furry children. He loved Margrits, Claire, his furry boys, his students, his colleagues, teaching Spanish, coffee, the Cubs, crocheting, hostas, Costa Rica, and above all Jesus. He also had a special devotion to Mary and praying the Rosary. Keith routinely attended daily Mass with “Fr. Javier” in Spain online before Mass online was cool. He was a creative genius in turning plain copy paper into amazing, beautiful, unique snowflakes. He was a fantastic gardener, with people often saying he didn’t have a green thumb, but a whole green hand. It seemed there was nothing he could not do.

Keith is preceded in death by his grandparents, two uncles and his mother-in-law (Rita Shaw).

Keith is survived by Marsha, Claire, his parents, his brother Kent (Sarah Berte), Cylinder, his brother Kurt (Sara Schafer), Cylinder, his sister Kim (Craig Berhow), Belmond and 7 nieces and nephews.

Keith was loved and will be missed more than words can express.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Unbound, an organization that partners with families living in poverty, empowering them to become self-sufficient and fulfill their desired potential.

To honor Keith’s memory, show love to your neighbor today.

  Mother, we are yours, now and forever.

Through you and with you, we want to belong always and only to Jesus.