Peter Andrew Bonucci

Peter Andrew Bonucci, 85, of Lake City, died Friday, November 25, 2016 at his home surrounded by his family.

He was born April 1, 1931 in Coal City, Illinois to William and Francis (Hutton) Bonucci. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana with a degree in Agriculture. He was a member of the U.S. Army and served in Korea. Following his honorable discharge, he returned home where he developed his skills as a plant breeder. He holds two U. S. patents for two varieties of bicolored corn, developed while working for Northrup King, where he worked for more than 25 years. He then went on to work for Sun Seeds before moving to Lake City where he started his own business, Pete's Pepin Marine which he ran until his retirement. On June 9, 1957 he married Gladys Koehn and the couple raised three children.

Pete was a fabulous baker, known for his breads and cookies. He was always experimenting with new recipes. In fact, he was always experimenting with everything, taking great joy in figuring out how things worked. He enjoyed gardening and created his own breeds of flowers. In his later years, he and Gladys enjoyed working on elaborate jigsaw puzzles together.
He is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Gladys; two sons, Peter Andrew Bonucci, III of Rochester Hills, Michigan and Bryan (Julie Johnson) Bonucci of Eagan, Minnesota; daughter, Susan (Jan Goldman) Bonucci of Mequon, Wisconsin; four grandchildren, Andrew, Theresa, Dominic and Benjamin Bonucci; one sister, Betty Trotter of Coal City, Illinois and her family; niece, Marcia Karol of Crest Hill, Illinois as well as many other nieces and nephews, other family and many friends.
He is preceded in death by his parents and two siblings, Bill Bonucci and Wilma Karol.

A private family gathering will be held at a later date. Online condolences may be left for the family at www.mahnfamilyfuneralhome.com