Millie Kerr

Millie Kerr, born on May 5, 1981, passed away on January 12, 2026 after a three and a half year battle with ovarian cancer. Millie grew up in San Antonio, where she graduated from Alamo Heights High School in 1999. She received her B.A., Magna Cum Laude, from Wake Forest University in 2003 and graduated with Honors from the University of Texas Law School in 2007. Millie then practiced law with the international law firm Allen & Overy in London until 2009, when she became chief of staff to FCC Commissioner Meredith Baker in Washington, D.C. In 2011 she moved to New York City to pursue her dream career as a freelance journalist while working for the Wildlife Conservation Society at its worldwide headquarters at the Bronx Zoo.

A gifted writer with a special interest in wildlife conservation, Millie soon enjoyed significant success as a journalist, with articles on diverse topics appearing in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, American Way, Delta Sky, Scientific American, National Geographic Traveler, Scientific American, Popular Science, Town and Country, and Travel + Leisure. Her writing also appeared in the web editions of The Atlantic, The Economist, The Guardian, The Independent, Texas Monthly, and USA Today, among other major newspapers and magazines. Often described as a force of nature Millie was also a force for nature. In addition to numerous photographic safaris in Africa, she volunteered at two African wildlife sanctuaries and worked with several NGOs on African conservation projects. Millie was accepted in 2015 into the prestigious Conservation Leadership graduate program at Cambridge University in England, where she received a Masters of Philosophy in 2016. She thereupon decided to return to London to continue her writing career as well as a new pursuit: wildlife photography, especially of birds. As with writing, she proved to be extremely accomplished, with several photographs that were finalists in international wildlife photography competitions. To introduce young adults to the importance of wildlife conservation she authored the novel The Adventures of Ellie and Boo, which was published in England in 2020. Lastly, the crowning achievement of her writing career and work in wildlife conservation was the publication by Bloomsbury Press in London in 2022 of Millie’s book Wilder, about re-wilding endangered species to their native habitat, which received critical acclaim (described by Jane Goodall as a “must read” on the book’s jacket) and is being sold throughout the world. Millie’s remarkable accomplishments were profiled in full length articles in both The Alcalde, the publication of the Texas Exes, and Wake Forest Magazine. She served on the US Board of Directors of Fauna & Flora International (based in Britain), the world’s oldest international wildlife conservation organization.

Beyond all of her accomplishments as a writer, photographer, and tireless champion of wildlife conservation, Millie’s greatest gift was making lasting friendships. From Texas to New York and London, the campuses of Wake Forest, the University of Texas, and Cambridge and literally around the globe, Millie made and sustained many dozens of close friendships with a very diverse group of men and women, all of whom were attracted by her intellect, her joie de vivre, her wit and empathy, and, in the past three years, her extraordinary courage facing a terrible disease. The world has lost an exceptional, beautiful woman in the prime of her life, but heaven, including the special corner of heaven where God’s wild (and domestic) animals are sent after death, has gained a very special angel.

Millie is survived by her mother and father, Susan and John, her brother Brewster and his wife Jennifer and son Cooper, her brother Caldwell and his partner Mark, and her brother Jeff and his wife Lindy and their son Ben and daughters Grace and Anna, who will greatly miss their “Auntie Millie.”

A celebration of Millie’s life will be held on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 2:00 p.m., at First Presbyterian Church, located at 404 N. Alamo Street, San Antonio, Texas 78205.

In lieu of flowers, donations honoring Millie may be made to Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, P.O. Box 32141, New York, New York 10087-2141 or the Animal Defense League of Texas, 11300 Nacogdoches Rd., San Antonio, Texas 78217.

You may watch the livestreaming of Millie's celebration from this link:

https://vimeo.com/event/3492461/44c0a32540?fl=so&fe=fs