Obituaries

Pauline (Polly) Malone Kerr
July 8, 1921—March 28, 2025

Click here to view the livestream of this service.

Polly was born and raised in Washington Township, along the Ohio River.  She was a member of the “Great Generation” a child of the Great Depression and a young woman through WWII.  This was very evident from the strength, resilience and independence of her character.

After graduating as valedictorian from Matamoros High School, she left small town life behind to attend the prestigious Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City.  She worked in New York throughout the war.

She was an intrepid traveler, touring Mexico with her sister, Kit, in a Woodie station wagon and moving to Honolulu in the immediate post-war years.  After accepting a position with Aramco Oil in Saudi Arabia, she met and married a young petroleum engineer, Jim Kerr.  They married in Cairo in 1950.  As his wife she made homes for Jim and their children in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Long Island, New York, Abquiq, Saudi Arabia and Trinidad.  In 1962 Jim joined Mobil Oil and the family settled in Louisiana, first in Lafayette and then in New Orleans.  In 1980, Jim accepted another overseas post and they spent 2 years in Cameroon. 

Polly was a devoted mother and will be deeply missed by her four children; Diana Osborn (Roger), Robin Burnette (Mike), Amy Nezat (David), James Kerr (Jennifer); her grandchildren, Jessica Becker (Brent),  Will Osborn (Andrea),  James Nezat (Teresa), Ian Burnette (Sarah), Emerson Kerr, Lauren Kerr, Marshall Kerr; and her great grandchildren, Simon, Walter and Alice Becker, Blaise Burnette and Lincoln Osborn.

Polly was a lifelong Presbyterian and was a member of Canyon Creek Presbyterian Church for the past 41 years.  A celebration of her life will be held there on April 12 at 4 pm. The service will be livestreamed here: https://youtube.com/live/pFiPcHZ3DFU?feature=share

The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the North Texas Food Bank.