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Angela Wood, 68, passed away Friday, October 16th, at her home in Chino Hills with her children by her side.
Angie was born on October 2, 1952, to Peter “Don Pedro” and Mary “Dora” Bonilla of La Puente, California. She was a proud graduate of La Puente schools. In high school, she served as a member and President of Future Homemakers of America, a Songleader for the La Puente Warriors, and fondly remembered her time as a carhop for the A&W on Nelson and Hacienda Avenue. She attended Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, and Mt. San Antonio College for a time, initially pursuing a degree in Home Economics. She was a lifelong learner who loved reading, drawing, trivia, visiting museums, watching live theatre, taking her kids to the movies, and solving puzzles. In her later years, Angie enjoyed attending senior classes and tours with Mt. SAC and local senior centers.
Of her many talents, she was best known to friends and family as an excellent seamstress who made her own wedding dresses, as well as those for her bridesmaids and flower girls. Angie sewed countless Halloween costumes, Prom dresses, and quilts, and blankets for newborns. She had great taste in fashion and interior design - notoriously scoring the best outfits, accessories, home goods, and gifts at thrift stores wherever she went. If someone asked her where she got something, she would boast with a wink, “Got it at Goodwill.”
She traveled across the US throughout her life with loved ones. Her first child Nolan remembers riding top down in her Fiat convertible to Northern California to visit her brother Michael Bonilla in Stockton and her cousin Vivian Alderete in Monterey all through the 70s and 80s. Her second child Holly/Ximón remembers long journeys to Wyoming; one especially adventurous road trip that took them all the way out to the East Coast, through the South, and back; and many weekend getaways to Las Vegas with her sister Luzanne Villarreal and Luzanne’s children Vivian and Damien. The trip Angie looked forward to most every summer was visiting former sister-in-law Shannon Kuzara and all the girls for Rodeo Days in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.
Angie had a passion for live music and was an avid concert-goer. She saw Elton John before he became famous in the US with her brother Michael in San Bernardino. She met her second husband Dave during a concert at Pacific Amphitheatre, and their child’s first concert was Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead at three months old in 1987. The musicians she loved seeing most were Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, America, Joni Mitchell, and her absolute favorite, Jackson Browne. Over the years, Angie would happily take her kids to see some of their favorite artists, too, from Weird Al to Sarah Brightman. She loved going out to dance with friends or at family parties and could always be found on the dancefloor for classics like ‘La Bamba,’ ‘Brown-Eyed Girl,’ and ‘Shout.’
Angie’s memory lives on with her children, Nolan Rader and Ximón/Holly Wood, and their cats Ezri and Juju; her siblings Peter (Dodie) Bonilla, Patricia Bonilla, Michael (Debbie) Bonilla, William (Inez) Bonilla, and Luzanne Villarreal; her goddaughter Vivian (Jasen) Smith and their children Aven and Addilyn; former mother-in-law Manuela Rader; former father-in-law Bob Wood; former husband David (Cheryl) Wood; and beloved family from both California and Wyoming, as well as her many close friends and coworkers from her 33 years of service with Leo Hoffman/Puente Hills Chevrolet.
Her spirit is reunited with her parents, the ancestors, her brother Andrew Bonilla, former husband Richard Rader, sister-in-law Yolanda Bonilla, and joins her former mother-in-law Vicki Wood to sing John Prine songs in the sky.
Rest in Power, Shy Girl. You hit ‘em with the Hein.
The family is holding a small memorial service for immediate relatives on November 14, 2020. Extended family and friends are invited to join via YouTube at 3 PM Pacific Time: https://youtu.be/kVE31hmHMGQ
In remembrance of Angela’s life, the family asks that any charitable donations be made to benefit Indigenous Americans and/or the North Shore Animal League:
Navajo Nation COVID relief - https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html
Lakota Law Project - https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/donate
North Shore Animal League - https://www.animalleague.org/
If memorials cannot be made, please make a plan to vote in every election.
Do it for her.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Angela Marie Wood, please visit our floral store.
North Shore Animal League
Web: https://www.animalleague.org/
Navajo Nation COVID relief
Web: https://www.nndoh.org/donate.html
Lakota Law Project
Web: http://action.lakotalaw.org/action/donate