Unknown to most, however, is that those years of work in low-paying positions had made her a millionaire, a fact that became public in mid-September — nine months after her tragic death — when it was revealed she had willed more than $1.3 million to seven community groups.

The news was somewhat of a shock to the recipients of such generosity, coming from a woman who lived modestly and never worked in high-salary jobs.

“I was very much surprised. I knew her as the lady who worked the cash register at Hy-Vee when she passed,” said Jesse Ulrich, president of Iowa Central Community College, which received the largest share of her will and plans to establish multiple scholarships in her name. “She’s making a very lasting impact on Iowa Central.”

Fort Dodge attorney Mark Crimmins, who was the executor of her estate, made the announcement of the $1,337,613.15 she willed to seven Fort Dodge organizations:

Iowa Central Community College: $535,045.26; Humane Society of North Central Iowa: $267,522.63; Fort Dodge Public Library, YWCA and Trinity Health Foundation: $133,761.32 each; and Domestic/Sexual Assault Outreach Center and Scout Troop 8: $66,880.66 each.

Barnett made her wealth known to at least two of her good friends, Kathy Dressen and Jan Kuiper.

“I wasn’t surprised by the amount of money,” Dressen said. “She always said she was going to be a millionaire. She told me she invested her money very wisely. I was very happy with the distributions of the money. All of the places were something that Bonnie did cherish.”

Said Kuiper: “She told me one day, I’m pretty close to $2 million. She saved every cent she had. She had this safe in her house where she put a lot of money — all her tips from working at Starlite went in that — and she always told her boyfriend Jack that if there’s ever a fire, get in there and get it. She bought a new car with cash. She saved all kinds of money, everywhere she worked.

“She told me that ‘I have to work. I won’t retire, I can’t afford it. My Social Security isn’t very much. I have to go to work. I need the money.'”

Barnett was working at the Fort Dodge Hy-Vee store until her death.

“She was always here, dependable, reliable, rain or shine” said Hy-Vee store manager Brandon Wilson. “One ice storm, others called in, but here comes Bonnie. She wanted to be here. She knew everyone, there were no strangers for her. She sacked groceries, saying hi and being that friendly smile.”

That dependability was also remembered by Stephanie Harris, food service director at Iowa Central, where Barnett worked as a server at the Triton Cafe from 2015 to 2021.

“Bonnie was a very active, hardworking and determined person,” Harris said. “Bonnie lived to work, so to speak. There wasn’t much that could stop her. She would make it to work in ice, snow — even when she could barely walk, she would show up for the job, she was always on the go. She worked her whole life so that she would be able to help others out, which is pretty amazing. As to relating to the students, she was pretty feisty with them, she definitely kept them in line.”

Barnett’s death was as shocking as the news of her will.

She was invited to dinner last November at the home of Emily Gubbels, who she met while the two were walking their dogs — both shared a love of Boston Terriers. When Barnett failed to arrive, Gubbels said she and her mother went to her home and found her lying unconscious at the bottom of her basement stairs, with her coat on. She was rushed to the hospital and then airlifted to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, where she died four days later, on Nov. 16.

“I went to visit her there,” Gubbels said, “but she was not responsive.”

Gubbels, whose husband Greg works at the Fort Dodge Post Office and once delivered mail to Barnett’s home, has adopted Barnett’s 2-year-old Boston terrier, named Sabrina.

“Bonnie was grandma to our six kids, she loved our kids, loved coming over and hanging with them,” she said. “We all so miss her.”

Bonnie Kay Largent was born on Oct. 5, 1943, in Mason City, daughter of Clyde and Laura (Kemp) Largent. Her father worked in the press room of The Messenger and her grandfather John was a printer at the newspaper.

She was raised and educated in Fort Dodge, graduating from Fort Dodge Senior High in 1961 and then attending Fort Dodge Community College for two years when it was housed in the east wing of the high school.

She was among scores of Fort Dodge teenagers who worked at Donahoe’s News Stand, once a popular downtown gathering place for Fort Dodge residents, where she went to work part-time at the age of 17.

“It was a jack of all trades type of store,” she told The Messenger in a 2021 Spotlight story. “You got all the news there, it was a newsstand and the whole town would come in there. We opened in the morning at 8, seven days a week. We had a subcontract post office, two aisles of Hallmark cards, all kinds of things — cigars and tobacco, a soda fountain with eight round seats.”

Jim Tarbox worked with her at Donahoe’s and recalled that many years later, his family was celebrating his parents’ wedding anniversary with a dinner at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites.

“I don’t think I knew Bonnie worked there at the time, but once we all showed up, she was gracious and accommodating, and insisted on being our server,” he said. “It turned out to be a great reunion. She even sat in on my long-winded ‘tribute’ to Bob and Jeanne.”

Largent worked as a server and banquet waitress for more than 40 years at Starlite Village, where she said she met five presidents and their wives while working there.

In 1987, she married John Barnett in Fort Dodge; he was fighting cancer at the time they were married and died four days later.

Rita Schmidt, director of the Fort Dodge Public Library, said she was not surprised that Barnett, “given her love of reading and based on chats we’d had over the years,” had included the library in her will.

“I was totally astonished, however, by how much money she had saved over the years and at how generous her bequests to the library and other Fort Dodge organizations were.

“Bonnie was a regular library user and loved reading nonfiction, especially biographies. Anytime a new book was published about the Kennedys, the Royal Family, or one the many celebrities she admired, we knew Bonnie would be calling to ask if the library would be getting a copy and if we would put it on hold for her. When it was ready and we called her, she came down to pick it up almost immediately.

“Bonnie was also a huge fan of cooking and cookbooks and she would frequently call the Reference Desk to ask us to find a recipe she’d seen or heard about someplace. Years ago, one of our library assistants spent quite a bit of time once trying to find a recipe Bonnie swore was in a cookbook written by Jill Biden. After an exhaustive search and unable to find the recipe in question, Kay gave Bonnie information on how to contact Mrs. Biden to ask about it. Not only did she get a copy of the recipe from Mrs. Biden, Bonnie actually got a copy of the cookbook it was in and was absolutely thrilled. After that, Kay became her ‘go-to person’ for questions and book requests.

“While her generosity will have an impact on Fort Dodge for many years to come, I think Bonnie’s real legacy is the many people who remember her for her work ethic, warm hearted nature, love of people and animals, and her enthusiasm for life.”

Barnett cleaned many area homes over the years and often would clean two to three homes during the day and then go to work at Starlite that night.

Among her long-time customers were Judge Albert Habhab and his wife Janet, both now deceased, and her work for them went far beyond cleaning their home on 11th Avenue North, said the Habhabs’ next-door neighbor of 26-plus years, Bruce Murman.

“When Albert and Janet came back from six weeks stay at Friendship Haven, Bonnie’s service to them was immense,” he said. “She went grocery shopping for them. She cleaned their house. She made meals and brought them to the Habhabs and she also made meals at their home for them. She was instrumental in keeping them home at their house.”

Barnett did the same for her mother, said her friend Kathy Dressen. “She took care of her; she never had to go to a nursing home.” Dressen said Bonnie cleaned Dressen’s home until the week before she died.

“She liked to be around people,” Dressen said. “She was like a background people person, she always wanted to be around people, but was kind of standoffish. She didn’t always trust people. I think she believed in God, but didn’t believe there was a heaven. She loved monsignor.”

Monsignor Kevin McCoy, in his eulogy for her funeral at Laufersweiler Funeral Home, said “Jesus taught us to love others; and perhaps this is one of many lessons that Bonnie has to pass on to all of us who are gathered here today. She may not have thought of it in this way, but many are the ways that Bonnie served others in imitation of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

He recalled Barnett’s love of traveling with her close friend of nearly 20 years, Jack Hampton, who died in 2020 at the age of 89.

“She and her late friend, Jack Hampton, enjoyed creating adventures as they traveled three times to Europe as well as a trip to Jamaica and various visits to Florida,” McCoy said. “COVID curtailed those travels, however, prior to Jack’s death. There is no question but that she is already truly missed by those whose lives she touched.”

Her friend Jan Kuiper said, “She was a funny woman. She was a wonderful person, she’d be right there to give anything to you.

“She said to me, several different times, that she would live to be 100, but that a person never knows when you’re going to go.

“I still miss her. I still look to see if she’s driving up the driveway. When I go to my husband’s grave at North Lawn Cemetery, I go to hers, too. I won’t forget her. I really do miss her. She’s buried next to John, and on the other side of her stone, her parents Laura and Clyde.”

Dressen, who styled Barnett’s hair for 50 years, was honored to style it one last time for her funeral.

“It was my way of saying goodbye to her; she was very particular about her hair,” she said.

“It’s amazing how often I miss her. When I was heading to her funeral, I wondered who would be there. I was surprised at the number who were there. I think she would have been pleasantly surprised. And she would be in total shock over what’s happening now. I’m glad I got to know her, I’m glad she was my friend.”