Bill Bonnell, ‘83 has had a lot of time on his hands. He’s a Coordinating Producer at ESPN who spends a large chunk of the year on the road planning and executing coverage of major sporting events. Due to COVID-19 and the resulting lack of live sporting events, he’s been home with his family. Like many, he’s found himself working around the house more than normal and going through old things which had been put to the side.
During the first weekend in May while rummaging through old boxes he stumbled upon a nearly 40-year-old family photo which he hadn’t seen since shortly after it was taken. It was from Onondaga Community College’s commencement ceremony held in May 1982 at the Onondaga County War Memorial in downtown Syracuse. In the picture was Bill, his mother Janice who had just earned her Nursing degree, his sister Kelly, and his brother Bob who graduated from OCC in 1977. “I was so proud of my mother. She was working as an LPN at Crouse-Irving Memorial Hospital when my brother and I convinced her to go back to school so she could become an RN,” said Bill Bonnell.
After Bill graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School in 1981, he and his mother would commute together to OCC. Bill’s father had died of cancer three years earlier and both mother and son viewed OCC as a way to improve their lives. Janice completed work toward her Nursing degree in 1982 and Bill would earn a Radio & TV degree in 1983.
Bonnell’s wife, the former Mary Beth Dennis, is also an OCC alumna but they did not meet on campus. Dennis was a co-worker of Janice Bonnell at Crouse-Irving Hospital. During one of Bill’s trips home in the late 1980s, he visited his mother at work and immediately noticed Dennis. After months of asking her out, she finally agreed. They married in 1990 and celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary last month. They have two children, Katherine and William.
Seeing the old family photo also reminded Bonnell of what the building where commencement was held meant to him. “The War Memorial was always a special place for me. In the mid-1970’s my mother took me there to be an extra in the motion picture ‘Slap Shot.’ They had a public casting call and I got to meet some of the actors including Paul Newman. I knew from that day I wanted to be in the entertainment business.”
Four decades later Bonnell is inspiring others. He’s won multiple Emmy Awards for his outstanding behind-the-scenes work. Earlier this year, Onondaga Community College named him a distinguished Alumni Face honoree for his professional accomplishments. “OCC has meant so much to our entire family and given us all so many opportunities. We are all very grateful. It’s such a special place.”
