Yvonne "Bonnie" Lela Hamilton

Yvonne Lela McGibbon Zehner Hamilton (“Bonnie”) of Orange Park, Florida, and Peebles, Scotland, passed away on August 12, 2026, at the age of eighty-nine. Yvonne was born on June 26, 1937, to Lloyd and Mae McGibbon and grew up in Bombay, New York, with her four siblings: Donald, Norman, Carol, who predeceased her, and her youngest brother Tommy. In 1958, she married Edward Zehner of Albany, New York, who predeceased her in 1994. Together they had three children, Eddie, Troy, and Todd. Yvonne later became Nana to four treasured grandchildren, Josh, Taylor, Carson, and Cade. Yvonne is survived by her loving husband, Geoffrey Hamilton, in Peebles.

As the wife of a U.S. Navy Veteran, Yvonne and her family moved several times along the East Coast before settling down in Orange Park, Florida, in 1972. For over 30 years, Yvonne worked in the banking industry and built a large family of friends in the community. She was especially passionate about her commitment to Island View Baptist Church, where she eventually served as a deacon of the church.

After her husband Ed's passing and her retirement, she became devoted to traveling to Europe with friends, which would lead to a second chapter in her life. After several extended visits to Peebles, Scotland, Yvonne would meet and marry Geoffrey Hamilton at Castle Venlaw, where they would be happily married for over twenty years. Their twenty years together would be filled with culture and involvement in The National Museum of Scotland and The Tweeddale Society. This time was highlighted by the opportunity for them to welcome and greet Queen Elizabeth on her visit to the Borders of Scotland in 2015.

Yvonne was a lifelong learner and an artist, ever consumed with reading, creating quilts, and moving furniture in her home.

The family would like to thank the care staff in the Memory Care Unit of Starling at Nocatee for their compassion, patience, and love in supporting Yvonne over the last two years with her battle with dementia. We would also like to thank Community Hospice and their staff for their diligence and support in her end-of-life process.

A Celebration of Yvonne’s life will be held in September. Details have not been finalized.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider making a donation in Yvonne’s honor to the Dementia Society of America at www.dementiasociety.org/donate