Madaline M. Bondurant

Madaline Bondurant passed away peacefully on January 9, 2012 at age 86. She was born a twin on April 18, 1925 in Fort Sybert, West Virginia to Ira and Flossie Ratlief. Her family (which included twin Cathline and younger sister Rebecca) soon moved to a farm outside of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. When not helping her father on the farm, she excelled at athletics (and had the ribbons and awards to show for it). She once stated: "I would have rather played baseball than had dinner." On February 15, 1946, when she was 20, she married (after a whirlwind romance of four whole months) Albert Bondurant (freshly discharged from the Army and World War II). She soon moved away from her native state to Ohio (Albert's home state) and started a family with her bricklayer/stonemason husband. The four month courtship turned into 36 years of marriage (by the time Albert died in 1982), four children (including twins of her own), three grand-children, and numerous great-grandchildren. She was a dedicated stay-at-home mom for her four kids until the youngest was nearly in high school. At that time, she took a part-time job as a sales clerk in Women's Fashions (appropriate for a lady who always took pride in her appearance) at the Chillicothe, Ohio Sears store. She worked there for over 35 years and when she retired, in her 80's, only one employee had a longer tenure. During her life, Madaline (or 'Maddie' - as many called her) enjoyed flower gardening, playing cards, singing old hymns, cooking, cake decorating, bowling, traveling and watching the Cincinnati Reds (both in-person and on TV). She will be remembered for her inner strength, tenacity, boisterous laugh and as a listener who supported your point-of-view. Madaline was preceded in death by her parents, twin sister Cathline and husband, Albert. She is survived by sons Pierre (Chillicothe, OH) and Albert (Columbus, OH) and daughters Sandy Wright (Walterboro, South Carolina) and Sindy Sams (Chillicothe, OH) as well as sons-in-law Larry Wright and Charles Sams, grandchildren, great-grand-children, other family members and friends. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 in the FAWCETT OLIVER GLASS AND PALMER FUNERAL HOME with Rev. Kurt King officiating. Burial will follow in Grandview Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home from 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Thursday.