Jim Bonfield, the
director of transportation for the Duneland Schools, died on Monday in a
motorcycling accident in Arkansas.
Duneland
Superintendent Dave Pruis told the Chesterton Tribune today that
Bonfield and his wife, Karla, were riding with a small group of friends when
for unknown reasons the two left the roadway.
Karla was seriously
injured and airlifted to a Missouri hospital, where she underwent surgery
and is expected to recover, Pruis said.
Pruis had no more
information on the accident.
“Jim looked forward
to this vacation every year,” he said.
Bonfield was
appointed the Duneland Schools’ director of transportation in May 2002. It
was his second career. For many years he served as an Indiana State Police
trooper, retiring as a detective. Bonfield left the ISP on a high note, two
years after his work on the Malinski Task Force helped to convict
Westchester Township resident David Malinski of the 1999 murder of Lorraine
Kirkley.
“Jim cared a lot
about the people in the Transportation Division, the mechanics, the bus
drivers,” Pruis said. “And he cared deeply about the Duneland Schools and
the thousands of students he transported safely every day. It’s a tragic
thing and we will miss him very much.”