Bonnie F. Guenther

Theatre Director, Wife, Mother, World-Traveler, Puppet Performer, Broadway Show Presenter, Servant of the Lord.

Bonnie Guenther was all these and more.

Bonnie Fern McCann was born to Thomas and Lena McCann on February 7, 1935 in Jamestown, New York. She passed away peacefully in Davenport, Iowa on October 21, 2025 at the age of 90.

Bonnie married Bruce Batterson in 1954 in Celoron, New York. They had three sons prior to relocating to Iowa in 1959. Originally settling on a farm in Walcott, the family moved to Davenport in 1961. Bruce was employed by MRC Ball Bearings and Bonnie was a stay-at-home mother.

Together they created Bonnie-Bruce Marionettes and performed marionette shows around the Quad-Cities at churches, schools, and libraries. Their bright red and yellow trailer was a common sight on Quad-City streets as they took their puppet theatre to various venues.

Bruce passed away in 1966 and Bonnie was left to raise her three sons. She took various positions, eventually landing with Bliss/Eagle Signal, where she met Harold C. Guenther, formerly of Fountain City, Wisconsin. They married in 1968.

A theatre participant since childhood, Bonnie took the position of Executive Secretary for Broadway Theatre League, a non-profit presenter of Broadway touring shows founded by Quad-City theatre legend, Mary Fluhrer Nighswander. Together, Mary and Bonnie presented productions at the Capitol Theatre, RKO Orpheum Theatre, and after its renovation, The Adler Theatre. Broadway Theatre League presented shows to thousands of Quad-Citians throughout the 1960s and 70s, before the pair stepped aside in the mid 1980s.

After serving for many years as a Board Member of Mary Fluhrer Nighswander’s other theatrical pursuit, Davenport Park Board Junior Theatre, the second oldest children’s theatre company in America, Bonnie went to work with the company in 1977, eventually replacing Mary as the Director upon Mary’s Death in 1991. She continued to run Junior Theatre until she retired in 2005.

In her leadership of Davenport Junior Theatre, Bonnie transformed the lives of hundreds of young people by giving them the freedom to grow through creative expression, encouraging them to challenge themselves to be better and do better, and providing them with a safe space to learn and socialize. Her impact on these young people and their community cannot be overstated.

Her husband Harold passed away in 2002, and Bonnie filled her retirement days with travels to such far flung places as Egypt, Alaska, Ireland, Mexico, and Hawaii. She was active in the Plus 60 club of the Quad-Cities, and often hopped the bus to Chicago to see the latest and best of Broadway well into her 8th decade.

Bonnie also cherished her church involvement, first at Grace Lutheran Church in Davenport, and after she and Harold moved to LeClaire in late 1975, at Zion Lutheran Church in Princeton. She served in many leadership roles in both congregations, as well as in the Iowa Synod. She participated in a number of missionary trips. She was especially moved by a journey to the native lands in the four-corners region of the American Southwest.

Bonnie is survived by her sons, Bruce (Mary) Batterson of Firth, Nebraska, Budd Batterson of Bloomington, Minnesota, and Brett (Veronica) Batterson of Memphis, Tennessee; seven grandchildren and four great-granddaughters; brother-in-law Howard (Shirley) Batterson of Bettendorf; sister-in-law Caroline Batterson of Sacketts Harbor, New York; sister-in-law Shirley Fetting of Cochrane, Wisconsin; and numerous nieces, nephews, and godchildren.

Bonnie had many friends through the years, and depended on them in her later years. The family thanks these wonderful individuals, as well as her care staff at Senior Star at Elmore Place in Davenport.

A service to remember Bonnie will be held Saturday, November 8, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at McGinnis-Chambers Funeral Home, Bettendorf. The family will welcome friends on Friday evening, November 7th, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at the funeral home.

Memorials made be made in Bonnie’s honor to Davenport Park Board Junior Theatre or to Zion Lutheran Church, Princeton.