Edna Bernice (Messamore) Kerr

Mrs. Kerr was a member of Piney Grove Baptist Church. Bernice was preceded in death by father and mother Lon and Ida (Strader) Messamore, siblings Edith, Nola, Dorothy Ed, Jack, Mary and Don. Bernice is survived by son Robert (Jane) Kerr, granddaughter McKenna, grandson Elijah, brother Bob Messamore, brother-in-law Gene (Sandy) Kerr, nieces Michelle Ownby, Carol Messamore and Kim Fennell; nephews Phillip Relford, Steve (Joan) Messamore, Jeff (Donell) Hensley, James (Angie) Messamore, Greg (Rhonda) Kerr, Chris Kerr, Mark Voyles, Nicholas (Jill) McPherson, and lifelong friend Delores Brewer.

Raised in a farming family off Edgemoor Road in the Claxton community, Bernice moved to Knoxville as a seamstress at the Standard Knitting Mill where she made friendships that lasted a lifetime. During this time, she met and married Bob Kerr. After spending the early years of their marriage in Charleston, South Carolina (thanks to the US Navy), the couple made their home in Knoxville. With their son Robert, the family enjoyed a busy life in East Tennessee, weekends on Douglas Lake and traveling the country. Bernice employed the same skills that led her to the Standard while creating a beautiful home for her family: gardening, canning, crocheting, upholstering, sewing her own décor and you just never knew if you were going to find her on a ladder painting the end of the house. Christmas was her favorite, hosting neighbors and family and gifting highly-coveted baskets full of her creations from her garden and kitchen. She will be greatly missed.

The family is grateful to the staff of LaFollette Court and Suncrest Hospice who helped Bernice during this transition.

The Kerr Family will receive friends Thursday, February 12, 2026, 1-3pm at Berry Highland Memorial Funeral Home, 5315 Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN, 37919.

Memorial tributes be made in the form of charitable donations to Tennessee Memory Disorders Foundation.