WESTERLO —  Bonnie Ruth Reister Duchow, a retired educator, died on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017, in Dallas, Texas, where she had lived with her son and family for the last two years. She was 86.

She was born Oct. 30, 1930, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the oldest child of Arnold and Florence Schmidt Reister. She grew up in Grandville, Michigan, and graduated from Grandville High School in 1948.

She received her bachelor of arts degree from Concordia Teachers College in River Forest, Illinois in 1954, and was called to be an elementary school teacher in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. She taught three years at Immanuel Lutheran School in Williamsburg, Iowa, followed by three years at St. John’s Lutheran School in Lansing, Illinois.

On July 9, 1960, in Grandville, she married the Rev. Robert M. Duchow. His pastoral calls took them to Youngstown, Ohio; Chardon, Ohio; Manchester, New Hampshire; and Saratoga Springs.  In Manchester, Mrs. Duchow resumed teaching, first as a substitute and later as a reading specialist in the city school district.

In Saratoga Springs, she again was a substitute teacher in the city school district before working in preschools, retiring in 1996 as director of the preschool at the Saratoga Springs branch of the Saratoga Regional YMCA.

In 1996, the Duchows moved to Westerlo, where Mrs. Duchow volunteered as a story-time reader at the Westerlo Public Library, and worked at the library part-time for 12 years.

Throughout her life, she was active in her church, including as a Sunday School teacher for many years, and for more than 50 years with the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, for which she held many offices in congregations and at the district level.

While in Manchester, Mrs. Duchow also served on the board of directors of the Manchester Children’s Home/Webster House, which provided a safe haven for children.

In her youth, she enjoyed summers on her grandparents’ farms, blueberry picking, lake trips with her cousins, squirrel hunting with her dad, her doll collection and making clothes for them, and playing the piano. In later years, Mrs. Duchow enjoyed knitting, particularly preemie baby bonnets; sewing; canning; flower gardening; reading; jigsaw puzzles; Sudoku puzzles; and traveling and visiting with family, especially her grandchildren.

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Bonnie Ruth Reister Duchow is survived by her husband, Robert M. Duchow, of Westerlo; three sons, Martin C. Duchow and his wife, Deborah, of Unionville, Connecticut, Frederick G. Duchow and his wife, Michelle, of Garland, Texas, and Robert A. Duchow and his wife, Emily, of Bakersfield, California; two sisters, Marcia Knight and her husband, Woody, of Nixa, Missouri, and Genese Snyder and her husband, Buz, of Allendale, Michigan; a brother, Carl Reister and his wife, Janet, of Pasadena, Texas; and seven grandchildren, Shelby, Zachary (Jacque), Elizabeth, Christian, Catherine, Gabriel, and Ella.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 16, at Resurrection Lutheran Church at 186 Main St. in Cairo.  Burial will be in the family plot at Westerlo Rural Cemetery. Condolences may be expressed at ajcunninghamfh.com.

Memorial contributions may be made to Resurrection Lutheran Church, 186 Main St., Cairo, NY   12413, or the Westerlo Public Library, Post Office Box 267, Westerlo, NY  12193.