July 29th, 2025, 8:50am MDT
President Bonnie D. Parkin, general president of the 14th Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away on Monday, July 28, 2025, at the age of 84.
Before serving as general president from 2002 to 2007, the Parkin sisters served on the Relief Society’s General Committee under Relief Society President Elaine L. Jack and served as the second counselor to the young woman, General Janet Jerez Beckham.
When Sister Parkin began her ministry as Relief Society general president, she said she prayed that she would know what women in the church needed. “Our daughters have received a strong witness that they need to know that he loves us,” she said at the General Relief Society meeting on September 23, 2006.
“We need to know that he sees good in us. His love encourages us to move forward, reassure us that we are him, and make sure we cherish him that he cares for us even when we stumble and experience a temporary setback.”
In an interview with President Julie B. Beck, who served as Relief Society’s 15th President, Sister Parkin testified:
She reminded the women in the church:
Sister Parkin is the general president of the Third Relief Society who has died in the past six months. Sister Mary Ellen Smoot, general president of the 13th Relief Society, passed away in February. In June, Sister Elaine L. Jack, president of the 12th Relief Society.
Bonnie Ray Dancey was born on August 4, 1940 in Murray, Utah. He is the third of five children born to Jesse Homer and Ruth Martha Viccofer Dancey. Growing up, she worked at the family farm and family store, Dancey’s location.
Her parents handed their immoral faith to young Bonnie. She told Church News in 1994: “My mother trusts me and I feel that trust is one of the greatest gifts she has given me. I felt a real obligation to never let her down.
When Bonnie Dancey was 14, the family’s finances were tough throughout Christmas. Their town families brought them Christmas – the service that Dancy adopted as a family tradition.
|Provided by Dale Jones
“I remember Christmas in particular,” recalls the Parkin sisters. “It was Christmas Eve and I heard about a family that had nothing. We didn’t have much extra either, but we had bottled fruit. We had our own cows so we had meat. We had some oranges. We each gave our own toys and possessions.
“My mother wasn’t really involved in all of this. She had us plan everything. That night we delivered the package. I drove the car. My siblings flew into the ditch as the family quickly opened the door. The kids were excited – something was there for Christmas.”
Sister Parkin graduated from Utah State University in 1962 with a bachelor’s degree in primary education and early childhood development. After graduating, she taught third grade at Hannah Holbrook Elementary School in Bountiful, Utah.
During her college days, she was a member of the Sponsors Corps, a service organization. President of Kappa Delta Sorority. I worked for the Homecoming Committee. He served as President of the Student Ward Relief Association. He was selected as a member of the Mortar Committee, the National Honor Society. He served as senior vice president.
In 1963, she met first-year medical student James L. Parkin on a blind date in the film. “We shared a great conversation. We thought, ‘I’d like to date him a little more,'” the Parkin sisters recall.
They were married on July 1, 1963 at Salt Lake Temple. They have four boys and 18 grandchildren. “She’s my best friend and my greatest investment,” the Parkin brothers said of their wife. He passed away in 2023.
In 1966, his brother and sister Parkin moved to Seattle, Washington, to complete his medical residency. Soon after that he was called to serve the bishop. For the first time, leaving her family, with her young children and her husband, “That’s when I really started studying the gospel in my life into the daily process,” Sister Parkin said. “I read Bible stories to my children. I was reading the Book of Mormon too, so I connected the two. This is when I learned to love the Bible.”
As a family, they enjoyed hiking, backpacking, hunting, fishing, tennis, skiing, attending theater and music events.
Over the years, she expanded her callings to include a young female president of the stake, a ward primary president, a ward Relief Society president and counselor, and a Sunday School teacher. She and her husband served as mission leaders for the London South Mission, England from 1997 to 2000.
She also served as a member and president of the PTA Board, as a member of the Utah Symphony Orchestra’s primary school lawmaker, and as a page on the floor of Utah Senators, the Great Book Foundation, the community council.
As General President of the Relief Society, Sister Parkin taught Latter-day Saint women that their blessings and responsibilities are to maintain and nurture family units. “Everyone belongs to the family, and every family needs to be strengthened and protected,” Sister Parkin taught at the 2006 Global Leadership Training Conference.
“My biggest help in becoming a housewife came from my mother and grandmother and then first from Relief Society sisters in the various wards we live in. I learned my skills.
Alongside President Susan W. Tanner, then the Young Women General President, the Parkin sisters began opening exercises for Relief Society and a monthly combination for young women.
“My Relief Society has renewed, strengthened and committed to becoming a better wife, mother and daughter of God. My heart has been expanded with understanding of the gospel and love for the Savior and what he did for me.”
“Jesus is Christ,” she testified. “He is my Savior and my Savior, and I am grateful for his redeeming love and for his obedience to our Heavenly Father.”
The funeral is pending. This article will be updated.
