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Anne Bonner was born Aug. 2, 1942 in Powell, Wyoming, to parents Nancy (Milliken) and John Bonner and died peacefully on March 12, 2025 in Palo Alto, California with her two children, Kate Green Tripp and Robinson Green, by her side.
Anne was known to her dear ones as Annie, to her grandkids as Mimi, and to all who knew and loved her as artist, gardener, seamstress, musician and gentle spirit. She was happiest when digging in the dirt, making or appreciating art of all forms, singing, eating ice cream or freshly picked berries, laughing over silly antics, cutting up old fabric to create something new, walking barefoot in soft grass enroute to prune or water a plant, or playing racket sports and card games with competitive gusto.
As a young girl, Anne built strong ties with friends, developed a lasting devotion to music, and spent long, quiet hours hunting for arrowheads and smooth rocks in the Wapiti district of the Shoshone National Forest just outside Yellowstone National Park, where the Bonner family spent countless weekends in the 1950s building a family cabin. The cabin remained a treasured “home away from home” for Anne and her four siblings — Bob Bonner, Dave Bonner, Jim Bonner and Barb Luther — throughout her life. Anne also grew up with, and maintained, a deep connection to her mother’s hometown of Covina, California, and the warmth and color it delivered to her life through extended family, camelia blossoms and citrus trees.
Anne fell in love with Spanish and choral music as a young student and went on to pursue Spanish language and literature in college. She graduated from Powell High School in 1960 and the University of Wyoming in 1964. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Washington in 1966 and pursued doctoral studies between 1966 and 1969 at the University of Texas.
Her bohemian heart called her to San Francisco at an era-defining time, where she taught pottery classes in Golden Gate Park and lived on a farm in Sonoma County. She played the guitar, learned to quilt and protested injustice. A transition to Minneapolis in the early 1970s introduced her to Theodore (Mike) Green. The two fell in love and married in 1974. For the next 35 years, Anne and Mike made their home in Delaware County, Pennsylvania — largely in the town of Swarthmore, where both Kate and Robin grew up, and where Anne built and nurtured a 26-year career in fundraising and development at Swarthmore College.
Anne sunk her creative and community-focused energies into all sides of life in Swarthmore: cultivating award-winning gardens, organizing neighborhood gatherings, serving on nonprofit boards, learning to paint, and always inviting friends, neighbors and colleagues into her backyard to clip plantings and talk landscape design.
In 2012, Anne and Mike divorced. Anne moved back to northern California to spend her retirement years in Santa Cruz County in close proximity to her children and grandchildren. There, she continued to engage in creative pursuits. She joined the Santa Cruz Chorale, gathered with women to discuss books and articles in The New Yorker, traveled, gardened, and sought inspiration and solace in nature and whimsy.
Anne is survived by Kate and Robin; her four grandchildren, Amelia, Eli and Noah Tripp and Jack Bonner Green; her siblings Dave, Jim and Barb; her beloved cousins, nieces, nephews and dear friends, and by all who walk slowly through life, taking the time to see patterns in blooms and foliage, or feel the texture of raw silk and antique wood. A memorial is planned for the fall of 2025 in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania.
