By Orli Strickman, Senior Managing Editor
John Bonlender, a 2025 graduate of Wheaton College, died July 26 in a motorcycle accident at the age of 23.
“As a community rooted in the hope of Jesus Christ, we grieve deeply with John’s family, friends, classmates, faculty, and all who knew and loved him. John’s life touched many within our campus community, and his absence will be deeply felt,” Wheaton College Chaplain Angulus Wilson wrote in an email to the student body on July 29.
The email also shared words of faith on behalf of the Bonlender family.
“John had put his faith in the Lord through repentance and baptism, and although we grieve his absence, we rejoice in the promise that death is not the end. We look forward to the day we will be reunited with him in God’s eternal kingdom.”
John Andrew Bonlender was born to Andy and Akua Bonlender on Sept. 12, 2002 in Milwaukee, Wis. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree in English writing at Wheaton College, he served as both the Administrative and Business Manager and the Executive Vice President of Diversity for student government. During his sophomore year, he was a member of the Diakonoi program, or a “deke,” welcoming prospective students and families to campus through leading tours and hosting students overnight.
After graduating in May 2025, he worked as a legal assistant at Gould, Grieco & Hensley in Chicago. In June 2026, he began working as a paralegal at Masters Law Group LLC in Oak Brook, Ill. while studying for the LSAT.
Grant Dutro ’25 lived with Bonlender during his senior year, and the two stayed friends after graduation. Dutro said Bonlender, who highly valued education and was essentially financially independent, was very passionate about law.
“John had a very strong heart for marginalized people, and he really had a strong urge to help people — that is consistent all the way through his character, to help the victimized and to help the forgotten.”
According to Dutro, Bonlender was a very active member of the Chicago Church of Christ, where he was always inviting people to carpool with him. “His days were spent pouring out love for the people in his community and his life,” said Dutro. “John was so invested in all he was doing.”
Daniel Bumpus, campus minister at Bonlender’s church, first got to know him during Bonlender’s freshman year. Bumpus said one of his favorite memories with Bonlender was when they tried to make pizza from scratch but lacked mixing bowls.
“There were some small recycling and trash bins in the apartment already, so we decided to wash out one of the recycling bins and use that to mix the pizza dough. And the pizza actually turned out pretty good.”
Dutro said that Bonlender, in addition to being academically driven, was always cracking jokes and goofing off. “He was a super loyal friend, and every room he walked into lit up. He was a complete bundle of joy, just so much fun to be around.”
Matthew Trotti ’25 was roommates with both Dutro and Bonlender. Trotti was struck by how trustworthy Bonlender was, noting they would often have deep conversations. “You could go from making fun of each other to talking about something insanely personal in the span of a minute. A lot of times we would call each other with nothing to talk about, and it would just go from there.”
Bonlender was also mechanically minded and was often found building computers from scratch or fixing up motorcycles. He helped several friends, including Trotti, build their own computers. “He did that as a side gig, and he actually made quite a bit of money, but he was very knowledgeable about computer parts,” said Dutro. “John had this really esoteric, obscure knowledge.”
Trotti noted that Bonlender was often perusing Facebook Marketplace for deals while hanging out with friends. “He was a prominent member of Facebook Marketplace. He would get all these deals, for electronics or motorcycle parts, and he would travel a couple hours if he thought it was a really good deal.”
Bonlender’s roommate group remained close after graduation, catching up during movies or while playing Dungeons & Dragons. “He would drive super long distances to see us,” Dutro said. “He was always one of the main facilitators of our friend group, reaching out and keeping constant contact and sending memes.”
After Bonlender’s roommates received the news of his death, they debriefed together over a Discord call, sharing pictures of and memories with him. Dutro said Bonlender had a tendency to fall asleep in public spaces, leading his friends to compile several pictures of him sleeping in different places into a parody of the picture book “Goodnight Moon.”
“For his birthday our senior year, we made a book called Goodnight John. The day after he passed, we actually went through that book — we had a lot of really fun pictures of John there.”
Bonlender’s passing was very unexpected, with no clear reports of how the accident occurred. “We really didn’t get a ton of details about much of anything for quite a while,” said Dutro. “One of the harder things was just thinking, who doesn’t know?”
Dutro recalled being in shock for several days after hearing the news. “It’s a tragedy and it’s extremely painful and it’s the hardest loss I’ve had in my life, and I think for a lot of people, it’s hard to have to leave even the language for it,” he said. “How do you even describe this feeling I have for such a good friend?”
Trotti said he was incredibly encouraged by the outpouring of love for Bonlender after his death, including at his memorial service on the afternoon of Aug. 15, in Waukesha, Wis. He estimated that 300 people showed up, leaving the room so packed that they ran out of chairs. “It was really great to see how many people showed up for John, whether it was from Wheaton or from his church, or his family,” he said.
At Chicago Church of Christ, Bumpus said they have been collectively grieving Bonlender’s loss. “We had a lot of people who knew him, and so we had several small groups meet to discuss and collectively grieve and process.”
Dutro said that it was impossible not to love Bonlender. “He just took so much joy in other people’s happiness, and he wanted to contribute to that as much as possible.”
Trotti described that one of the traits that made it so easy to love Bonlender was his commitment to being present. “Even if he was just kind of in the room and not talking, he was always there for you.”
