Lavina M. "Woody" Bonacci

In 1956, most 24 year old women were already married and well on their way to establishing a family. But Lavina Stumpf was on an adventure. Not having found her Prince Charming among the farm boys around her hometown of Pierz, Minnesota, she decided that her future would be found in the big city. So she convinced her sister and two friends to join her, and they piled into her ’49 Chevy and set out for Denver. It was on that trip that one of her friends started calling her “Woody,” because her last name was Stumpf and “there’s nothing woodier than a stump.” When they arrived in Denver they didn’t know where they were supposed to go, so they just started picking random cars and following them, laughing hysterically the entire time.

In Denver, she went to work in customer service for Mountain Bell, where her career advanced despite the fact that her supervisors didn’t like her very harsh-to-their-ears staccato German accent when she used the word “no” with customers. (“It’s pronounced ‘naow’ not ‘NO’.”) She indeed found her Prince Charming the following year, when she and her sister attended a gathering where a handsome young accountant was showing slides of his Sand Dunes vacation. When Leo Bonacci called over to their house the next day, he made up his mind to ask out whichever sister answered the phone. Her sister answered, but “something” told him to ask for Lavina. She lost her Prince Charming two years later when he decided God was calling him to the priesthood and departed for the seminary. She was devastated, but instead of falling apart, she traveled to Europe (almost unheard of for a twenty-something farm girl from Minnesota in that era) and launched into a new, albeit less satisfactory, relationship. She got her Prince Charming back when word of her engagement reached him, and he concluded perhaps God wasn’t so much calling him to the priesthood. She married Leo on the same day and in the same dress that was slated for the other fellow. Because why waste perfectly good wedding plans?

The rest of her life was dedicated wholly, completely, enthusiastically and lovingly to the family they created. Mary Beth, Paul, David and Julie grew up in a home full of faith, love, and lots and lots of laughter. Her kids always knew they were loved unconditionally, and that their parents would do anything to make sure they were secure and ready to take on the world. One of her favorite stories was about the day David and Julie arrived home from school and didn’t see her car parked in front of the house as it usually was. They came around to the back, saw it in the garage and said “Oh goody, she’s home.”

She was always home, and she was always there for her kids.

After her kids flew the nest, she spent her days working a series of part time jobs, playing bridge, volunteering for the Jeffco Action Center, and chasing cats out of her garden. She loved playing the slot machines  — not so much for the gambling, but just because she found the bells and lights thrilling. She liked to “climb the holy mountain” to Black Hawk at least once a month.

She moved to the big city, but never lost touch with her German heritage. Her kids always knew when an aunt or uncle was calling on the phone, because she would politely answer, then immediately start speaking in German and laughing hysterically. She loved her Stumpf family. She was dedicated to her parents, Ed and Regina, until their deaths in 1973. And she always kept in contact with her nine siblings, and kept tabs on the lives of her 43 beloved nieces and nephews.

She loved kids — all kids. She stopped and talked to them at the grocery store, at church, anywhere. And she really loved her grandchildren. She was “Biya” to Anna, Brian, Audrey, Leo and Ava. She would do anything for them, any time. Which perhaps explained why, in her late seventies, she injured herself doing a summersault, simply because three year old Audrey asked her to do it.

Her Catholic faith was at the center of her life. And, as she said herself in a recently discovered 1974 audio cassette interview conducted by six year old David, her main goal in life was to take care of her family, and help her kids grow to love Jesus and save their souls.

She did that beautifully.

In her German culture, the highest compliment one could bestow on someone is that they were humble and a hard worker. She was always self-deprecating and uncomfortable with flattery. Most of all she despised phoniness. She frequently mused about whether people could find anything sincerely nice to say about her at her funeral. (Her brother’s response: “Don’t worry, we’ll think of something.”)

It’s not hard. She was a funny, loving, devoted, beautiful, classy lady. She suffered terribly but courageously in her last years. Her suffering is over. But her family’s lives will never be quite the same without her sense of fun, her infectious laugh and her great, all-encompassing, unconditional love.

Rest in peace, Woody.

A Recitation of the Rosary will be held on Tuesday, February 9, 2021 at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church at 5:00 PM.

A Funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 also at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church at 11:00 AM. For those who are unable to attend personally, they are invited to attend virtually. Please visit Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church's Facebook Page, and then click on their "videos" link. The link will be accessible 10 minutes prior to the start of Mass.

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