Someday Kelli Bonn will cure diabetes.
That's the legacy her husband, Randy, anticipates.
Bonn, a vibrant, athletic 32-year-old, had Type 1 diabetes and her husband believes it was a medical crisis associated with the disease that caused her to crash her car in a single-vehicle roll-over Feb. 17.
"It was a day-to-day grind with the diabetes. As much as she kept it in control, it was always a lot of work," Randy Bonn said. "She was so very regimented about the control of her diabetes. She was so overly conscious about that. She'd check her blood sugar 10 times a day."
In his wife's memory, Randy Bonn has organized Kelli's Ride, a motorcycle run to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Southern Arizona. He hopes to raise $8,000 or more from the Saturday event, which is expected to attract upwards of 100 riders from throughout the U.S. and Canada.
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"When I started this thing I had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I had to do something so that Kelli will always be remembered," said Bonn, a systems engineer at Raytheon Missile Systems. "I had zero clue five months ago what this would be. I was just a guy trying to figure out how to get up every day and survive and make my wife proud of me. She was always a very charitable person … and this is something I know would make her smile. I want to make it so people will never forget her."
The motorcycling community is a niche the foundation hadn't yet tapped, so local representatives were excited when Bonn proposed his fundraiser, said Stacy Taormina, a foundation branch manager in Tucson.
Money raised will fund research. Earlier this year researchers at the University of Arizona received a two-year, $500,000 grant from the foundation.
"Our goal is to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes," Taormina said. "Some of the most promising research is being done right here in our backyard."
Unlike Type 2 diabetes - sometimes called non-insulin dependent diabetes, Type 1 diabetes has no cure. "It's one of those diseases we've all heard about, but we know so little about it," she said. "That's one of the great things about what Randy is doing. He's bringing awareness to the motorcycle community about how devastating this disease is."
Said Bonn: "Some of the nicest, most generous people I've ever met are motorcyclists. They are very charitable."
Kelli and Randy met six years ago and they wed on a beach in Kauai, Hawaii, in July 2007.
"It was the definition of a perfect marriage," he said. "I never thought I could be so compatible with anybody."
Kelli grew up in Tucson and joined the U.S. Air Force when she graduated from high school. She was discharged after being diagnosed with diabetes. She earned a bachelor's degree from the UA and a master's at Northern Arizona University. She taught elementary school for five years before the stress of cutbacks in education funding prompted her to change careers and become a pharmaceutical representative a couple of years ago. A week after her death, the pharmaceutical company for which she worked honored Bonn, posthumously, as their regional "rookie of the year," Randy Bonn said.
Contact reporter Kimberly Matas at kmatas@azstarnet.com or at 573-4191.
