DONOR STORIES
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS – $3,000 per year for up to four years of undergraduate degree programs.
ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENT– None.
The Stories Behind the Donors
Every scholarship tells a story—a story of generosity, remembrance, and the profound impact one person can have on the lives of many. Behind each named scholarship is a donor who chose to transform their gratitude and love into opportunity, ensuring that the legacy of someone special continues through the success of future generations.
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Here, we celebrate these remarkable donor stories—the individuals and families who have turned loss into hope, tribute into action, and memory into meaningful change. Through their generosity, students are empowered to pursue their dreams, carrying forward the spirit of those honored by each scholarship.
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The Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund is grateful to donors who create limited-term, named scholarships and include us in their estate planning. Through their generosity, they leave a lasting legacy that empowers students in Lake Country to pursue their passions in post-secondary education.
Don and Marian Bonamer
Donald Bonamer (1935-2014) was born in Escanaba, MI and moved to Oconomowoc during his Sophomore year. Initially, Don was considered a bit of an outcast by students who weren’t used to seeing a northern Michigan boy in overalls, but it didn’t take long for them to warm up to him. He played on the baseball, basketball and track teams but where he really excelled was on the football field.
Don made the B-team as a sophomore and made the varsity team as a junior. He started out as a guard on the line, but his coaches converted him to a halfback….and the rest is history! During the season of his senior year, Don scored twenty-three touchdowns and set the Wisconsin state prep football record for being the highest scorer with 140 points in nine Little Ten conferences games.
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He humbly gave credit to his quarterback, teammates and coaches for his success. Don and his wife Marian ‘Sue’ Bonamer raised six children in these unique locations. Despite his short time here, Don considered Oconomowoc his hometown and felt it was ‘very good to him and gave him one hell of a good education.’​
Ruth A. Knoll
Ruth A. Knoll (1936-2023) was born in Oconomowoc and grew up on Lac LaBelle. She loved spending her evenings sitting on the deck of her childhood home watching the lake. The Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund is grateful to Ms. Knoll for remembering us in her estate planning. Her days were spent in Hartford where, for thirty years, she was the choir director at Hartford High School and was the music director for their musical theater productions.
It is with gratitude that we are able to offer the Donald & Marian Bonamer Scholarship to a graduating senior pursuing engineering. Don also won the hearts of his fellow OHS students who elected him to be their 1952 Homecoming King. He was also selected to be Vice-President of his junior class and President of his senior class.Upon graduation in 1953, Don received a $1000 scholarship from the Oconomowoc Scholarship Fund to pursue a four-year degree. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he played football during his freshman year. He earned a degree in mining engineering and his career took him all over the world, living and working in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Africa.
Don and Marian "Sue" Bonamer
During her career, she was instrumental in offering her students voice lessons and preparing them for the Wisconsin School Music Associations solo and ensemble festivals. Her award-winning choir auditioned and was selected twice to sing with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
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At the request of many high school alumni who wanted to continue singing, Ruth founded the Hartford Community Choir in 1960. She was the Musical Director for fifty-five years and directed more than 700 singers during her tenure. They are Hartford’s resident choir at the Ruth A. Knoll Theater in the Schauer Center for the Arts.
Ms. Knoll received many distinct honors during her career including the Herb Kohl Teacher Fellowship which recognizes and supports teaching excellence and innovation in the state of Wisconsin in 1991; the Paul Harris Fellowship through the Hartford Rotary and the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association Morris D. Hayes Award. She was named the Hartford Teacher of the Year and the City proclaimed December 12, 2010 as Ruth A. Knoll Day. Ruth received her B.A. from Kalamazoo College in Michigan and her M.S. in Music Education from UW-Madison. The Ruth A. Knoll Scholarship will be awarded to an Oconomowoc area student who is pursuing a degree in music.