Chris Bonvie remembered by Memorial tournament
We learn that life can change in the blink of an eye – just that fast.
On Saturday in Stellarton, about 60 people, many of whom knew Chris Bonvie very well, will take part in the memorial co-ed softball tournament that bears his name.
Bonvie was just 26 years old in August 2009, planning to return to NSCC that fall to finish his carpentry diploma, when he died from sudden cardiac arrhythmia.
”It was very unexpected,” his mom, Darra MacBeth recalls.
“I talked to him the night before. The next morning, he took a turn and he lived until the next evening.”
Bonvie left behind a two-yearold daughter Rhianna and of course, all the others who were closest to him – family and friends who remember him as a fun-loving young man with a sense of humour.
“Everyone who knew Chris – and there’s a lot of them – knew him as a comedian,” MacBeth said.
“He was nice, generous. And I think most people would say he always had your back.”
He stared down some adversity in his 26 years: ADHD and Tourette’s among them, but they couldn’t keep him down.
“He overcame a lot of challenges in his life,” MacBeth said.
In 2011, two years after Bonvie’s death changed everything for those who loved him best, his cousin Mark Turnbull helped organize the memorial tournament.
“It’s just a free co-ed tournament. Passing away at such a young age, we wanted to honour him,” Turnbull said.
“Everybody gets together to remember Chris, to swap stories. Ultimately, it’s to have a good time – because he loved to have a good time. I don’t think I ever saw him without a smile on his face.”
Turnbull clearly remembers playing catch with Bonvie in his mother’s backyard not long before he died. “I think that was the last time I saw him,” he said.
The Family Team is a group of Bonvie’s family members who enter the tournament together every year. His mom even played for a few years, but health issues mean she’ll be on the sidelines on Saturday.
MacBeth said the entire family appreciates that people gather together every Stellarton Homecoming weekend to remember her son, who had grown up in Westville, but was living in Stellarton at the time of his passing.
“I am overwhelmed. I think it’s amazing that people remember him this way. It’s a honour to him – and for us.”