Jo-Ann Lawrence Bonin

Jo-Ann Lawrence Bonin (also spelled as “JoAnn” and “Jo Ann”) died unexpectedly on November 19th, 2025, in Santa Clara County, California. She was born on June 23rd, 1964, in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Carl J. and Delinda “Linda” G. Bonin.

She grew up in Hillsdale, Bergen County, New Jersey, graduating from Pascack Valley High School in 1982. She moved to California in the mid-1990s. JoAnn initially lived in San Diego, but moved north to the San Jose area in 1997 where she spent the rest of her life. In 2001, she received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University-Hayward.

People knew and will remember JoAnn as enthusiastic, competitive, and kind. She was devoted to the cats she kept throughout her life. She was passionate about playing sports, being in the outdoors, and visiting beaches and lighthouses. And if she could combine sports and beaches or the outdoors all the better.

JoAnn adored forests and mountains, regularly visiting state and national parks from Harriman State Park to Yosemite National Park. She relished hiking and camping in them, tramping through their woods, along their meadows, and up their slopes. Above all JoAnn loved the Beaverkill Valley in the Catskills, where she spent time in the summer growing up and where her parents retired. She was joyful wading in the streams that come down the mountains into the Beaverkill, climbing up the rocky glens into the oncoming water, swimming in the river.

JoAnn was crazy about ocean beaches and lighthouses. From Lavalette down the Jersey shore, where her paternal grandparents had a summer home, to California’s beaches, and from New Jersey’s Barnegat Light to Point Reyes Lighthouse north of San Francisco, she never could get enough of sand, saltwater, and lighthouses. She photographed every lighthouse she saw. Almost every trip she made anywhere in the country included visits to lighthouses she had never seen. No matter how far off the straightest route to her destination, she would take the time to swing out of her way to add new ones to her photo collection. Playing sports, JoAnn was competitive, intense. She could be ferocious, but she was never selfish. She was forever a team player both on and off the playing field. JoAnn was “always the kind older cousin who made me feel loved and included,” remembers one cousin. Following are some of the other deep and enduring memories JoAnn has left…

JoAnn’s Cannon — from Gordon Bonin

Growing up with JoAnn as my sister, I never understood why saying somebody “threw like a girl” was an insult. JoAnn’s throwing arm was a cannon.When she let a softball fly, either from behind the plate to throw out a base stealer or from the outfield to cut down a runner trying to take an extra base, the ball blazed like a rocket.I remember how she threw…how far back she reached with her elbow…how much she twisted her shoulders and torso back to generate power…how high she held the ball to make sure her arm had a clear path coming forward…and then how fast the ball flew when released…. She was a missile launcher.Everybody remembers the outstanding high-school basketball teams JoAnn was a starting forward on. Her rebounding, in-your-face defense, and relentless hustle were major factors in driving the team to state championship games in each of her sophomore, junior, and senior years, and winning state titles as a junior and senior.But I always felt it was softball that JoAnn was most remarkable playing. She was fearsome on the softball field. She ran the bases like a freight train with the throttle wide open. She turned singles into doubles and doubles into triples. She could steam home from second when the batter hit a single. She hit with power. She broke up a no-hitter.She stole bases by the fistful. On the varsity team in high-school, she stole four bases in at least one game and three bases in at least two. She stole home at least twice, including the game-winning run in one game. When former Dodgers second-baseman Davey Lopes said it was more exciting to steal bases than to hit home runs, he could’ve been talking about JoAnn.

JoAnn was an Athlete, No Denying That — from Laura Goodson

She was a star in every sport she played, including the kill-or-be-killed wiffle-ball tournaments in Sharpless-Gordon stadium in Beaverkill. JoAnn was always one of the first picked in the draft, and alas, I was almost always the last. Still, I couldn’t help but admire her prowess, her fearlessness, and her blatant skill. She was often the reason whatever team she was on won the championship!Her athletic skills also made their way onto the floor of many a wedding reception, including mine. JoAnn liked to win, and you had best not get in the way when the bridal bouquet was tossed to the single ladies. She would quite literally tackle, hip check, or throttle her nearest competitor, no matter who they were. When I look at newspaper pictures of her fighting for the basketball on the gym floor, it reminds me of those floral battles royale. I would wager she was undefeated in those wedding-reception contests.Although JoAnn had a fierce competitive nature, at the same time she was one of the most optimistic and genuinely sweetest people I ever knew. She saw the world as full of hope and beauty, and her stunning photography of flowers and nature, in general, reflected that outlook. She and my mom (Sally Shea) shared a particular bond in their love of nature and their love of Beaverkill. I know my mom reserved a special space in her heart for JoAnn.JoAnn was a lovely human being and a beautiful soul, and she will be sorely missed by all of her surviving family members and friends.

The Perfect Dress — from Allison and Polly Case

We were blessed with many cousins. The river of cousins had pools and eddies and we would see different combinations under different circumstances but our summers always included cousins. As the “country cousins”, we Case girls were sometimes in the stream, sometimes caught in an eddy but JoAnn and Gordon were a constant current. Allison and I could always count on them to spend most of August at our house in Candor. It was like Christmas waiting for them to pull into the driveway.Since it was the 1960s and ’70s we were left to our own devices for most of the day and so there were trees to climb, horses to ride, ponds to swim in, and adventures to be had. We built forts, explored old barns, and spent perfect afternoons splashing in “Apple Tree Crick.”In our attic there were boxes and trunks full of exotic clothing from the 1950s, ’40s, ’30s and even the Roaring ’20s. Our father’s mother brought us all these glamorous hand-me-downs and we spent hours rummaging and dressing up, trying different combinations until we found the perfect look. We were the height of elegance, fashion and taste!There was one dress in particular that JoAnn just loved. It was a sweet, full skirted halter dress from the 1940s covered in violets. It became JoAnn’s dress. Years later, well into our 30s, JoAnn called me and asked me if I still had that dress, and would I be willing to let her have it for real? Of course I would. I dug it out of my attic where my kids had been using it for dress-up and sent it all the way across the continent for her. The last time we saw JoAnn, she came to dinner wearing that dress, more than 45 years after she first pulled it out of my grandmother’s trunk. That dress brings such sweet memories of JoAnn and our cousin-filled summers.

Ever Helpful — from Aunt Connie Lynn

After JoAnn moved to California we kept in contact through phone calls many times. When I was just learning how to use a computer, she was always very helpful. She helped me become comfortable with computer attributes and quirks. JoAnn loved cats and always took care of the ones that appeared on her doorstep needing good shelter and love. She was an excellent photographer, always taking lots of pictures at family reunions. One project JoAnn shared with me was that she photographed numerous flowers close-up and created beautiful notecards that I used for special messages to my friends on many occasions. Her family visits from California were infrequent, so it always was a pleasure to be able to visit with her and have time together. Love to you, JoAnn as you rest peacefully in Heaven.

Those looking to honor the memory of JoAnn can make donations in her name to the activities she loved. She would have appreciated contributions to humane societies and animal shelters, lighthouse preservation organizations, state conservation and reforestation programs, or girls’ sports programs.

Please join me in a celebration of the life of my sister, Jo-Ann Bonin, who died unexpectedly in late 2025.

We will be gathering at 10 a.m., Saturday, July 11th, for a time of visitation and remembrance at the Harris Funeral Home, 11 Railroad Avenue, Roscoe, New York.The gathering will be followed by a graveside interment service beginning at 12 noon at the Beaverkill Valley Church, Craigie Clair Road, Roscoe.After the interment, all are invited to a repast at 67 Ragin Road, Roscoe, which is located roughly a mile from the church.