Bette Bonné

Bette Bonné

Windsor, VT - Bette Frankenfelder Bonné, 81, died of natural causes July 26, 2025, in Windsor, VT. She is remembered by her loved ones as a devoted wife, mother, sister, and caregiver.

Bette Jane Frankenfelder was born in New York City in 1944, to Richard and Maxine Toch Frankenfelder, and grew up in White Plains, NY, just outside the city. She attended Syracuse University and graduated from the Katharine Gibbs School before receiving her bachelor's degree in psychology from Fordham University. Along the way, she met Jack N. Bonné, at a seder at the Plaza Hotel in New York. They wed in 1970, and were married for nearly 40 years. They had two children: Jon, in 1972, and Julie, in 1975, and moved to Pound Ridge, NY, in 1978, where they would live for the next three decades. Bette loved swimming in the pool they built in their house there and would regularly swim laps every day during the summers.

While she enjoyed supporting her husband and raising her children, Bette also had dreams of fulfilling her career, and went back to school in 1979, receiving a Master of Social Work from Hunter College two years later. That began a long and fulfilling professional life - first as a social worker and counselor, and then as an administrator, first at Phelps Memorial Hospital, in Tarrytown, NY, and then as the director of admissions at the Tandet Center in Stamford, CT. She followed that in 1998 with the audacious step of founding her own geriatric-care consultancy, GeriCare Associates. Through it all, Bette took great comfort and joy in helping others receive meaningful care at every stage of life, but especially in their later years. She imbued her work with her trademark mix of compassion and insight.

Following Jack's death, Bette moved to Naples, FL, where she grew active in the local Jewish community and made friends with her many neighbors. She then briefly relocated to California, before moving to Vermont in 2021.

She is survived by Julie, of Healdsburg, CA, and Jon, of Philadelphia, PA and Paris; as well as her sister, Marjory Bissette, and her brother-in-law Stephen Bissette, both of Windsor, VT.

A memorial service will be announced at a later date. Those who wish to donate in her memory can do so to Planned Parenthood, of which she was a longtime supporter.

Knight Funeral Home in Windsor, VT has been entrusted with arrangements. Condolences may be expressed in an online guestbook found at www.knightfuneralhomes.com