Bonnie Nettles - Biography

Biography

Born in 1927, Nettles was raised in a Baptist family for all of her life until adulthood. After becoming a nurse, Nettles married a businessman and remained with him for 23 years, having four children with him. Their marriage remained mostly stable, until 1972 brought an end to it. Though there could be multiple reasons for this break between Nettles and her husband, according to the New York Times, what finally dissolved their marriage was an overpopulation of spirits. This refers to Nettles' belief that Brother Francis, a 19th century monk, frequently spoke with her, giving her instructions. Furthermore, Nettles often conducted seances with mediums in order to contact other deceased spirits. A circle group was held every Wednesday at her house in relation to this. Also, in 1972, Nettles went to see multiple fortunetellers, who told her that she was soon to meet a mysterious man who was tall with light hair and a fair complexion. This description was fairly close to Applewhite's.

Nettles finally met Applewhite in March 1972, though where they met is uncertain. According to the writings of Applewhite, "he said, he was visiting a hospitalized friend when Mrs. Nettles entered the room and their eyes locked in a shared recognition of esoteric secrets." However, Applewhite's writings were prone to hyperbole or relaying everything as some occurrence of fate. Terrie Nettles, Bonnie's daughter, has stated that "The Two met at a drama school in a theater." And that Applewhite had been teaching in the school, while one of Bonnie's sons was attending. Bonnie's son, Joe Nettles, also corroborated this version of events.

Whichever version is correct, it is known that directly after their meeting, Nettles did an astrological reading for Applewhite, from which she found an alignment between their stars. Applewhite then explained to her his ideas about heavenly connections, thoroughly convincing Nettles of their truth. He decided that Nettles was "to be the sage, he the speaker." They left together on New Year's Day of 1973. Her three youngest children were left to remain with their father, while her oldest, Terrie, then 20 years old and skeptical of her mother's ideas, fended for herself.

Many events passed in creation of the Heaven's Gate group and the formation of its core members, with Nettles continuing to be the interpreter of signs and the mystic of the group. In 1983, she had to have an eye removed due to cancer, though her doctor informed her that the disease was already spreading through the rest of her body. She stated that the doctor was ignorant and believed, along with Applewhite, that she could not die, as they had to ascend together. However, the cancer continued to worsen, moving to Nettles' liver. Eventually, she succumbed in the summer of 1985, dying at the Dallas Parkland Memorial Hospital. While there as a patient, she used the pseudonym Shelly West.

Applewhite convinced the rest of the group that her "broken-down vehicle was left behind". He had her body cremated and her ashes were then spread in a lake somewhere in Texas.