Betty "BB" Ruth Bond

Betty "BB" Ruth Holbert Bond, age 86, passed away Saturday, November 28, 2015 in Gulfport. "BB" was the oldest of seven children born in Kanawha County, West Virginia to Clyde and Bessie Holbert. At the age of 17, the family moved to Hialeah, Florida where she lived until 1960 when she impulsively moved to the "most beautiful place she had ever seen", the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It was here she met and married the one true love of her life, Ermon Bond, whom she met while working as a waitress at the Confederate Inn in Gulfport. Her only child, Tina, was born in 1962. She and Ermon worked as life-long partners in various businesses such as The Cove, The Pines, The Shamrock, Parkside Catfish Restaurant, Bond Trading Post, Bond Video and Bond Food Store. They also met many friends while working in the Waller, Finch, and Eaves gubernatorial campaigns. She later said this was the most exciting time of her life. Sadly, she lost Ermon in 1992 but the "apple of her eye", her only grandchild, Tyler Bond Cook was born in 1994 and completed her life. She worked until the age of 82 when she reluctantly retired. Just a short year later, she suffered a stroke which affected the remainder of her life. During the final three years, she was lovingly cared for by her adopted daughter, Donna Bond and son-in-law and daughter, Dexter and Tina Brewer. She was preceded in death by her husband Ermon Bond, son-in-law Dexter Brewer, siblings - Helen Sumner, Grace Deibert, Inez Poole, Virginia Bays and Gene Holbert; 4 brothers-in-law and 5 nieces & nephews. She is survived by her daughter Tina; grandson Tyler, sister - Dot Pentecost; sisters-in-law Martha Bond Saucier and Eloise Allen; former son-in-law David Cook; 14 nieces and nephews and her faithful companion Mia. The family prefers memorials to Texas EQUUSEARCHhttp://www.texasequusearch.org/ - designate Jackson County, MS plane crash or Jackson County Sheriff’s flotilla to try to bring Dexter home to us. The funeral service is Saturday, December 5, 201 at 11:00 a.m. at Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15th Street, Gulfport where friends may visit beginning at 9:00 a.m. Interment will follow at Finley Cemetery. View and sign register book at www.bradfordokeefe.com