Bonnie Lee Rust
On Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, at noon, Bonnie Lee Rust, of Coral Gables, Fla. passed away peacefully at Baptist Hospital after a brave, five-month battle with neuroendocrine cancer, while surrounded by her loving family and friends. She was 65 years old.
Bonnie was born on Nov. 14, 1958, at Mercy Hospital in Coconut Grove, Miami, Fla. She was the fourth of six children of Robert Warren Rust, originally of Manhasset, N.Y., and the late Mary Duncan Rust, originally of Buhl, Idaho.
She was born and raised in Miami and spent several years of her childhood in Palm Beach, attending Palm Beach Public Elem. from first through sixth grade. The family then returned to Miami in January of 1969 where she graduated from Westminster Christian School in 1976 in Pinecrest, Fla. Bonnie was debuted in 1976 at the Swords and Roses Debutante Ball at the Coral Gables Country Club, alongside her sister Debbie. She attended the University of Miami and transferred to Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., where she joined the Phi Mu Fraternity.
She spent her summers on Nassau Point in Cutchogue, at the summer home of her paternal grandparents, Adolf and Helen Rust. She learned to sail at Old Cove Yacht Club where she competed in many races and regattas with her siblings, her favorite being the race around Robins Island. She could always be found in or on the water, whether in a sailboat, rowboat, beachcombing, clamming with her toes, or fishing on her grandfather’s boat, Tradewind.
As an adult, she would watch her kids, nieces, and nephews playing in the same Wunneweta Pond of her youth while cooking their favorite linguine with white wine clam sauce and baked clams from her grandmother’s kitchen, often with her sisters by her side.
If not in the ocean, she would spend her hours cultivating her garden. In 2015, she received the City of Coral Gables Landscape Beautification Award with her proud family in attendance and was a member of the Coalition for Orchid Species in Miami, Fla. She took tremendous pride in her garden and harvest, especially her tropical fruit trees and herbs, and took great efforts to have a strictly native garden. Her daughter Michelle tended the garden alongside her. It made her happy to share her garden’s bounty with family, friends, and neighbors.
She taught her kids everything she knew and passed the love for all things related to the ocean, gardening, cooking, and healthy living to them, just as her mother and grandmother did for her.
Her mother also instilled in her a love for all of God’s creatures, especially her beloved dogs, Sprite, a Maltese, and Rhett, a Papillon, who predeceased her. She took in every stray her daughters and granddaughter Elicia would bring home, restoring them back to health, and had a penchant for rescuing injured birds, most memorably at her very own birthday celebration with her daughter Amy.
Bonnie was a Girl Scout who lived by their motto, “Be prepared.” You could always count on her to have whatever you might need and lend a helping hand to anyone. As a result, her car and home were always packed and stocked like an emergency first aid kit and hardware supply store! She proudly served as the Girl Scouts Troop Leader for all three of her daughters’ troops at St. Philip’s Episcopal School, where they attended near their childhood home on Indian Mound Trail in Coral Gables.
She would go above and beyond for everyone in her life no matter the request. “A Girl Scout is ready to help out wherever she is needed.” Her granddaughter, Madison, is also now a passionate Girl Scout and will carry her torch.
She adored her grandchildren and loved being their “Grandma” and “Nana.” We pray her youngest granddaughter, Morgan, will continue to feel the overwhelming love her grandmother had for her despite the few short years they shared together.
Additional favorite pastimes were playing Scrabble, especially with her father, playing with her grandchildren, swimming, cooking, and listening to music. She was a road warrior and would often travel to visit family and see live music, including Mardi Gras Day parades and Jazz Fest with her sister Wendy.
Just a few weeks before going to be with her Lord and Savior, her family took her to swim at the beach on Key Biscayne, and she combed for shells with two of her young granddaughters.
She was visited by loving sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and dear friends. She also visited her father, where she enjoyed a marvelous steak dinner, and everyone was able to relish the time, unburdened, even if just for one evening, of all the worries and pain she was enduring.
Her daughters would like to especially thank Bonnie’s sister Lani and brother-in-law Irvin for moving to care for their mom during her battle with cancer.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Mary D. Rust, her grandparents, Helen Rust and Adolf Rust, and her good friend Claudia Tharp. Her beloved mother tragically died in 1981 from cancer and is the cherished namesake for her second daughter. Her family is comforted to know they are together again in the arms of God.
She is survived by her daughters, Michelle Celeste Moorefield of Coral Gables, Fla., Mary Helen Osgood (Matt) of Dallas, Texas, and Amy Lee Jones (Ryan) of Topsham, Maine; her pride and joy, her three grandchildren, Elicia Celeste Diaz, Madison Reese Osgood, and Morgan Grace Osgood; her beloved father Col. Robert W. Rust USMCR (Ret.) of Coral Gables, Fla.; and her five siblings, Benjamin David Rust of Orlando, Fla., Lani Lorene Dickson (Irvin) of Alpharetta, Ga., Debra Dale Lindström (Peter) of Roswell, Ga., Randall Duncan Rust (Debbie) of Tallahassee, Fla., and Wendy Ellen Rust of Key Biscayne, Fla.
Family and friends are invited to gather at Cutchogue Cemetery, 30535 Main Road, Cutchogue, N.Y., at 11 a.m. on July 12, 2025. A celebration of life to follow.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in her honor to the following organizations:
Old Cove Youth Sailing Foundation: Donations can be made online at gofundme.com or mailed to OCYSF, P.O. Box 214, New Suffolk, N.Y. 11956.
National Alliance on Mental Illness: Donations can be made by phone, 1-888-999-NAMI (6264), select menu option 3, or mailed to NAMI Florida, P.O. Box 961, Tallahassee, FL 32302.
Orchid Conservation Alliance: Donations can be made online at orchidconservationalliance.org/donate.
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