Alfred "Bud" Bonnett Jr

Alfred Bates Bonnett, Jr. (Bud) passed away peacefully at home on December 5, 2025 at the age of 97. A lifelong resident of Riverside, Bud was a 1946 graduate of Poly High School. He attended Cal Poly, San Dimas and transferred to the San Luis Obispo campus, where he studied citrus production. After college, he married his high school sweetheart, Leatrice Lowe, and first worked for the Goleta Lemon Association. Together the couple made a life in Riverside, raising 2 children and digging deeper into the citrus industry, first for his family’s Alta Cresta Rancho on Victoria Avenue, and then founding Alta Cresta Grove Service with his cousin, Bill Bonnett, Jr. Bud started a side business, Bonnett Pipe and Supply, specializing in design and installation of irrigation systems for the citrus industry, and this became a full-time enterprise for Bud and Leatrice. In 1962 he and Bill planted their own 80-acre citrus orchard in Woodcrest, with innovative sprinkler and then drip irrigation systems. With this experience, Bud and Bonnett Pipe assisted other growers in the area in adopting cutting-edge systems they had designed for citrus, wine and table grapes, row crops, dates, avocados and Christmas trees! Bud was registered as a California Professional Engineer in Agricultural Engineering (#337), based on his education and experience, though he never received his bachelors’ degree. In 1954, he began a lifelong relationship with the Soil Conservation Service through projects at Alta Cresta Rancho, and in 1962 he was appointed to the board of directors. The SCS later became the Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation, and Bud was celebrated for 60 years of service on the board in April of 2024. He was respected as an advocate for the future, and was proud to show off the many conservation projects in the district. Bud had a deep and abiding faith in God and was an active member, vestry member and layreader of All Saints Episcopal Church for nearly all of his adult life. After Leatrice passed away in 1995, he married Betty Jo Shaifer Horton, and embraced the addition of her family to his. Bud and Betty traveled joyfully through the world together for nearly 30 years. When it was time to downsize, they joined the Westmont community, just a few miles from Bud’s Woodcrest orange grove. The San Jacinto Mountains were special in Bud's life, from boyhood at the YMCA camp, to his parents’ camp in Pinewood and the cabin he built with his children and grandchildren. Any excursion that involved massive water projects, dams, boats, or wildlife was the best trip ever. Survivors include Bud's wife, Betty, two children and their spouses, 7 grandchildren, their partners and spouses, and 7 great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held January 31, 2026 at 11 am at All Saints Episcopal Church, 3847 Terracina Dr, Riverside. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the All Saints Episcopal Church organ fund

Alfred "Bud" Bonnett Jr

June 10, 1928 - December 5, 2025