The Many Facets of Bonnie L. Gentry

Corte Bella resident, Bonnie L. Gentry (her middle initial is important so she isn’t identified with a certain Country Western Singer and events that may or may not have transpired on the Tallahatchie Bridge), was born in Montana but raised in Phoenix. She moved to the Phoenix area in 1960 with her parents and one sister. Her father was a mailman and her mother worked as a medical transcriber. A graduate of Paradise Valley High School in 1971, Bonnie is in charge of her high school class’50th reunion this coming January, which will be held in the Corte Bella social hall. Following her high school graduation, Bonnie attended the University of Arizona where she earned a degree in French. Her plan to become an international flight attendant with Pam American Airlines was thwarted by the company’s vision requirements. As Plan B, she was in retail management followed by a stint as a real estate broker before settling in as a financial planner with Merrill Lynch, working in both Scottsdale and Sun City. Bonnie retired in 2013 as a Vice President and Certified Financial Planner. Bonnie married Rich Zell in 1988. She has two stepchildren and four grandchildren, living in Kansas City and Denver.

Bonnie and Rich are Corte Bella original owners, buying their property in 2003 when Corte Bella was just an architectural concept on paper. They were one of the first forty buyers in the new development. They continued to live in Scottsdale for eight years, coming to Corte Bella on weekends before moving here full-time. Bonnie states that the people of Corte Bella, the amenities, the gated community security, and the feeling that Corte Bella is a “slice of paradise” is what keeps them here. Bonnie is a woman of many interests and talents. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (serves as a state committee chair) and is involved in genealogy projects with that organization as well as independent research. She is an avid exotic traveler, a cruise enthusiast, and an accomplished “re-stringer” of Madame Alexander collectible dolls. Bonnie’s mother had 150 of those dolls and upon her death willed them to Bonnie’s niece. The niece preferred to sell the dolls but many required repair. Bonnie learned how to repair these dolls and, since 2021, has fixed 500 of them. She buys collections, does the repairs using an innovative technique involving elastic cord, and then resells them to collectors. Bonnie is an active member of SOuL, an avid Mah Jongg player, and also enjoys playing Hand & Foot Canasta. She is also a member of the Corte Bella Finance Committee, serving on the Investment sub-committee. Bonnie’s big interest started in 2003 when she realized that she had a talent and vision for creating crossword puzzles. She stressed that she is not a “solver” but a developer/creator. After finding a program that laid out a grid, she loved developing a theme and carrying out what she focuses on for the puzzle. Bonnie finds the challenge of making something symmetrical, fresh, and encompassing new ideas really give her an opportunity to learn with every puzzle. She stresses that research is a huge part of the puzzle development process. She reads constantly and is a good speller. Bonnie creates daily puzzles, Sunday puzzles and Colossal (Jumbo) puzzles. A daily-size puzzle will take about three to four hours to create while the Sunday-sized variety is just an expanded daily puzzle. However, the Colossal piece takes the better part of a year to develop. Bonnie estimates she has had over 500 puzzles published “on spec” over the past 18 years. She has co-edited three crossword puzzle books, contributed to digital puzzle books and has puzzles in internet apps like Puzzaz, Daily Pop and Redstone. She is a contributor to Gannett Publishing Services, a company with more than 104 media markets. In 2007, Bonnie taught a cruise class on crossword puzzle design for Celebrity Cruises. Her pseudonym for the completed puzzle was Mae Donna Cruz (read that out loud). Bonnie has some goals in mind for next year involving her crossword puzzles – she wants to find the time to reconnect with her “roots” in daily national newspapers like The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the LA Times. She is excited about expanding her presence with giant puzzles that help to drive readership to print media. Every once in a while we are lucky to find something that we like to do and that we can do well. People like Bonnie appear to be able to do many things well. Corte Bella is full of talented people and Bonnie L. Gentry certainly belongs right at the top of that list. Maybe she will do a puzzle for the Corte Bella Times in the future? Let’s all ask for that.