Gordon Willson Bonner was the oldest of 3 children of Robert John Bonner and Annie Willson Bonner. Although the family lived in Chicago, Gordon was born in Canada. Annie Bonner returned to the family home in Ridgetown, Ontario for the birth of all 3 of her children.
Gordon was born on April 14, 1900, and grew up in Chicago. He was called “Wills”, by his brother and other family members, and is remembered as “Willson” by his children. He attended and graduated from the University of Chicago, where he studied Greek, Latin and French, including a Greek course taught by his father. He earned a B in the course, normally a respectable grade but perhaps disappointing to his father. He did take at least one economics course, reportedly to the disapproval of his father.
After graduating from the University of Chicago, Willson went to work in investment banking. He did quite well in the 1920s (his 20s). His area of expertise was putting together bond offerings. He married Agnes Russell on May 22, 1926 in Chicago. See her biography for more about this couple’s married life.
Gordon’s father R.J. Bonner grew up in Ridgetown. He graduated in classics from the University of Toronto, attended law school and was admitted to the Ontario Bar. After a brief stint as a lawyer, he turned back to classics, earning a PhD at the University of Chicago in 1904, after which he immediately joined the faculty there, eventually becoming chair of the Greek Department. His specialty was ancient Greek law. He was said to have a personality not atypical of a classics scholar: stern and demanding. He never attended graduations until after he received an honorary degree from the University of Dublin. His new red gown and hood were quite distinctive.
On December 25, 1894, R. J. married Annie Willson, a former classmate at the University of Toronto. Annie, or “Nana” as her grandchildren called her, graduated in 1890. She was the first woman to matriculate at and graduate from the University of Toronto.
R.J. and Annie had three children: Gordon Willson, Brant and later Pat, born when Annie was 42. Annie returned to Ridgetown, Ontario, to the old family Victorian farm house, for the birth of her three children even though she and R.J. were living in Chicago and had no intention of living in Canada. It was not uncommon practice in that era for women to return home to family for childbirth, where they could be assured of the support of many family members for what was then a more difficult and dangerous event than it usually is today. The farmhouse she returned to was the one built by her grandfather John Willson at Sprucehurst. In later years, Annie’s nephew John Harold Willson lived in the house until 1953, when he sold the house and land to the Province of Ontario to use as an experimental farm for the Ridgetown School of Agricultural Technology. John Harold Willson became Dean of the Agricultural School.
Having been born in Canada, Brant, Willson and Pat had to take extra measures to secure U.S. citizenship. In Brant’s case there was an issue during World War II that he had remained out of the country for more than five years. He was being called up to the Marine reserves, and was barred from crossing the border. The issue was finally resolved by a private bill introduced by Senator Paul Douglas from Illinois, who earlier had been a colleague of R.J. Bonner’s at the University of Chicago. The bill restored Brant’s citizenship, and allowed him to join the Marines.
After the crash of 1929, investment services were separated from banking, and Willson worked at other financial jobs, never quite finding work that was as fulfilling as his work as a younger man. Unfortunately he had a stroke at the very young age of 50, and died on Christmas Eve, 1951.
© 2013 W. Mullins