Bonnie Renison Young Kerr, a 64-year resident of Fort Plain, New York, passed away on January 26, 2026, at The Nancy Dowd Hospice Home, in Gloversville, NY, following a year-long illness with Invasive Breast Cancer with Peritoneal Carcinomatosis.

An Anglican Episcopal service, The Burial of the Dead, will be officiated by the Rev. Howard Smith on June 6, 2026, at the Houghtaling & Hanley Funeral Home, 20 Otsego Street, Canajoharie, New York. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m., followed by the memorial service at 11:00 a.m. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made in Bonnie’s memory to the local public library of one’s choice.

Bonnie was 85 years old. She was born on July 6, 1940, in Albany, New York, to Mary H. and Thomas Renison. She grew up on Long Island and graduated from Baldwin High School in 1958. Bonnie earned a Bachelor of Science in Education from the State University of New York College at Geneseo in 1962, with dual certification in Common Branch Education (K–6) and Library Science (K–12). She later earned a Master of Science in Education from SUNY Albany in 1970.

Bonnie devoted her life to education and library services. Her career began at the Canajoharie Central School as Elementary and Junior High Librarian, followed by substitute teacher-librarian positions throughout the region. She served as Elementary Librarian in the Gloversville Enlarged School District, Librarian at Dolgeville Junior–Senior High School, and Evening Assistant Reference Librarian at Herkimer County Community College. Bonnie was appointed Director of the Canajoharie Library and Art Gallery, where she administered a federal National Endowment for the Humanities grant titled “A Sense of Community, Diversity and Change.” She was also selected to serve as Children’s Librarian for Library USA at the 1965 New York World’s Fair.

Over more than six decades, Bonnie’s professional career spanned public school, community-supported, and academic libraries throughout Fulton, Herkimer, Montgomery, Schenectady, and Schoharie Counties, where she served as a Library Media Specialist and advocate for lifelong learning.

Bonnie was deeply engaged in the Mohawk Valley community. Her many affiliations included the Mohawk Valley Chorus; Otsquago Chapter #297, Order of the Eastern Star (Fort Plain); the Saturday Afternoon Study Class; the Palatine Literary Society; Arkell Hall Advisory Council; Mohawk Pathways Girl Scouts (as a troop leader); the Fort Plain Free Library Board of Trustees; the Mohawk Valley Public Library Board and later the Mohawk Valley Library Associates Board of Trustees; Mohawk Valley Regional Policy Board; Vestry member and Warden in the Episcopal Churches of Fort Plain and Canajoharie; and the Fulton–Montgomery Community Action Advisory Board.

Bonnie was selected to participate in the SUNY Albany college credit course European Area Studies Program: The History of Germany and Austria auf Deutsch, during which she traveled to nine European countries.

In 1968, Bonnie married Deo R. Young, with whom they raised three children over 26 years of marriage. Deo passed away in 1994. Bonnie later married retired Anglican Episcopal priest The Rev. Arthur W. Kerr of Howes Cave, New York, in 2004. The couple wintered in Palm Springs, California, until Arthur’s death in 2008, after which Bonnie returned to Fort Plain.

Bonnie is survived by her children: Kevin (LeAnne) Young, Paige Young, and Stephanie (Joseph Fortunato) Young; grandchildren Deo (Jenni) Young and William Young; step-grandchildren Raymond and James Fortunato, Thomas, Larry, and Abigail Caouette; and great-step-grandson Atticus Caouette. She is also survived by her brothers Stephen (Ellen) Renison and Bruce (Tracy) Renison, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.