Tera Eckel Bonds, of Cumming, Georgia, passed away peacefully in her home on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 after a four-year battle with breast cancer.

Born Oct. 22, 1977 in Olney, Illinois, Tera was 36.  

Though her recent years were scarred with cancer, she did not allow it to define her. She spent her days with grace and generosity; her strength and beauty growing with every passing day. Tera wore many hats, her favorite of which were “Mommy,” “wife,” “daughter,” “sister,” and “friend” and she performed each role with an enthusiasm that could not be feigned or imitated. 

The loves of her life, Jimmy and Emma, were her pride and joy and she was always willing to share a story or one of the anecdotes that often come with husbands and young children. She made lists, she lost lists, she wholly agreed with her mother’s favorite quote of “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail” but was willing to pick up and go if someone needed, or even just wanted, her company. 

She loved sushi, tween novels, movies based on tween novels, Frye boots, and General Hospital. Tera enjoyed working as a senior paralegal for Dickenson Gilroy, LLC in Alpharetta, Georgia, and often boasted of how fortunate she was to work with such a wonderful group of individuals: they felt the same of her. 

Tera leaves behind her husband, Jimmy Bonds, their 5-year-old daughter, Emma, and beloved family dog, Zoe, of Cumming, Georgia, her mother, Lori Barger and step-father, John Edward Barger, of Olney, Ill.,  father, Gary Eckel and step-mother, Robbin Eckel, of Noble, Ill., a sister, Tori Taylor and her husband, Ryan Taylor, along with a niece, Ava Taylor, of Buford, Georgia, maternal grandparents Carilyn Grinestaff of Olney, and Jerry Michels and his wife, Sue Michels, of Olney, and numerous aunts and uncles. 

She was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents Gilbert and Florence Eckel. She was a 1995 graduate of Princeton Community High School in Princeton. and a 1999 graduate of Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Visitation will be held Saturday, April 26 from 1-3 p.m. p.m. at McDonald and Son Funeral Home in Cumming, Georgia, with funeral services following immediately thereafter.