Twila Bonine Hackett

Twila Jane Bonine Hackett was born on April 25, 1942, in Constantine, Michigan. She passed on March 21, 2026, in her daughter’s home in Great Falls, Virginia, from metastatic breast cancer.

Twi grew up in Jones, Michigan with her father James Russell Bonine, mother Donola Burcham Bonine, brother Jerome and sister Bonnie. Twi was predeceased by her brother, but her sister Bonnie was by her side until the very end.

Twila’s father “Russ” and Nellie Belle, her paternal grandmother, were her strongest childhood influences. She was Nellie Belle’s right hand girl, cutting grass with her at the farm, washing dishes, mopping floors, cleaning the silverware. She was also her dad’s helpmate, following him to electrical jobs after his day’s work as a tool and die maker, where she handed him necessary tools as he toiled away. Her reward for her hard work was their company, and their impact on her seemed never to fade; she spoke tenderly about their mentorship and quiet love throughout her life.

Twi attended her first years of schooling in Jones in a one room K-12 school, but in 5th grade she was bussed to Three Rivers, Michigan, graduating from Three Rivers High School in June 1960. She desperately wanted to attend a four-year college but was discouraged from doing so.

Upon graduation she began work as a secretary at Weyerhaeuser Paper Mill in White Pigeon, Michigan, where she ended up meeting her future husband, David E. Hackett.

David and Twi married May 25, 1963, and first lived in Oahu, Hawaii and Radcliffe, Kentucky, during David’s time in the U.S. Army. They later moved to Livonia, Michigan, and Plymouth, Michigan, over which time they had three children, Stephen James (1965), Andrea Lynn (1968), and Jeffrey Tyler (1969). During their time in Michigan, Twi took some community college classes, loving math and accounting. She worked part time as a tax preparer while her kids were in school. Twila then singlehandedly sold their Michigan home while David began his career with Toyota in California, and then moved the family to Lake Forest, California.

In Lake Forest, California, Twi took up tennis at Lake Forest Beach and Tennis Club. She fell in love with the sport, and tennis became the medium by which she met lifelong friends and flexed her underused competitive instinct. She concurrently held a part-time position at Toshiba America, while diligently supporting each of her children in their chosen athletic pursuits.

Twila and David divorced in 1992, after which Twila moved back to Michigan to help her sister Bonnie care for their ailing dad. Twi then spent 10 years in Michigan working for the Three Rivers School District as a secretary for the head of curriculum. Her thirst for learning never having been quenched, she became a master of the computer and word processing, producing beautiful work product for the district well ahead of her time.

The arrival of grandchildren marked a new chapter. While residing in Michigan, Twila welcomed the births of Alice Dakota Hackett (1994) and Henry Walker Hackett (2001), the children of her son Stephen and daughter-in-law Carrie, as well as her daughter Andrea’s firstborn, Jessica Margaret Henningsen (2000). All three were born in California. She was determined to stay in Michigan until she qualified for lifetime health insurance, even though her distance away from the new bright souls in her life was very difficult for her. When daughter Andrea needed a “granny nanny” before son Davis James Henningsen (2002) was born, Twila answered the call, having secured her lifetime healthcare.

Twila became the full-time care provider for Jessica and Davis, in Moraga, California, a role she embraced. Her warmth, humor and love infused their young lives. With grandchildren Alice and Henry in Southern California, Twi bridged the State of California as best she could to delight in all of her grandchildren’s youth.

Twila’s first bout of breast cancer struck in 2006, but she refused to give up her post as granny nanny, and with the help of extended family, including ex-husband David, she thrived even through her difficult treatment.

When son Jeffery became a father and granddaughter Hazel Rose (2015) was born, Twila answered the call yet again. Jeffery, a single father, and Jessica and Davis well-established teenagers, Twila uprooted herself in 2017 to move to the home of Jeffrey and Hazel in San Antonio, Texas, where she became Hazel’s bestie and fairy godmother. Grandpa David, not wanting to miss out on the fun of a new grandchild, also moved into Jeffrey and Hazel’s home, and this foursome loved on young Hazel and supported Jeffrey, to the astonishment of no one who knew Twila and David well.

Twila received her metastatic breast cancer diagnosis in October 2020. She braved it in Texas until October 2023, until daughter Andrea convinced her to take residence in an en suite in her Great Falls, Virginia home, with the support of son in law Danny May. Leaving Hazel in San Antonio was most difficult for Twila, but she got her Hazel fixes through several long visits by her little blonde mini me.

Even ailing, Twila embraced Great Falls, especially the tennis community at River Bend Country Club, and they embraced her right back. She participated in tennis at River Bend alongside senior members until the final months of her life. She was also a fixture at the tennis court while Andrea played, offering tips and critique to Andrea and anyone who asked, and sometimes even those who didn’t.

As her cancer progressed and treatments started failing in late 2025, Twila still found the glimmers life had to offer. She celebrated her first great grandchild, Georgia Jane, born in 2024 to grandchild Alice and her husband Alec Slazas. None of us dared to interfere with her wishes to travel to Indiana for her last Thanksgiving, to celebrate with Stephen, Carrie, Alice, Henry, Georgia Jane, and extended family. Nor did we try to prevent her from traveling to Texas to celebrate her last Christmas with Jeffrey and Hazel. Grandchildren Jessica and Davis, having spent time with Twila in Virginia in November and December, were wide eyed with concern about her travel plans, but knew she was not to be deterred.

Twila entered hospice care just weeks after her trip to Texas. With everything failing, in her final days she still maintained her sense of humor, opening her eyes just long enough to assess the situation and deliver the necessary wit. As messages and phone calls of love poured in, Twila acknowledged each as best she could until she couldn’t. She pulled an Irish goodbye on watchful Andrea and sister Bonnie when they stepped out of her room for moments, in full keeping with her personality and disdain for goodbyes.

“Your legacy is every life you touched,” so said the great Maya Angelou. Twila’s legacy is thus immeasurable, as she knew no strangers and fiercely loved those of us lucky enough to be called hers. Her indomitable strength and loving spirit have now become ours to carry forward. May we do so well, in her honor.

Twila’s family will celebrate her life privately, including a spreading of ashes with oats so that she can “sow her wild oats one more time,” as she requested. Those who wish may consider a donation to the Underground Railroad Society of Cass County, Michigan (urscc.org), which manages the Bonine House—a former shelter for freedom seekers in the 1800s, and part of Twila's proud family history.