Kathleen Bonelle Frisbie
Kathleen Bonelle Frisbie was peacefully called home to be with the Lord on November 4, 2024.
Kathleen was born December 13, 1936, in Harbor Beach, Michigan. She was the first of six daughters born to Hilbert and Florine Weiss. She grew up in Port Hope, Michigan, surrounded by family in the close-knit farming community. She attended and was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Port Hope.
Kathleen attended Harbor Beach High School and graduated as Salutatorian with her high school sweetheart, Bruce G. Johnson. She went on to earn her RN license at Harper Hospital School of Nursing in Detroit. Following graduation, she married Bruce in 1958, and they lived near Wheaton, Illinois. As a member of Wheaton College ROTC, Bruce served in the US Army after their marriage, and Kathleen embraced the role of a military wife. Their first child, Bruce, was born in 1959, followed by Bryan and Colleen within the next three years. As the Vietnam War was beginning to unfold, Bruce was deployed and became Missing in Action in 1965. He remained MIA through the entirety of the war, and Kathleen and the children awaited word of the fate of their husband and father for 13 years. Kathleen faithfully, courageously, and selflessly raised her children in Salina, Kansas. She was on the founding board of the National League of Families and was at the forefront of seeking to bring Bruce and other MIA and POW servicemen home through influence in political and grassroots coalitions. She attended several meetings with key government officials in Washington, DC. During the Paris Peace Talks, she served as part of a delegation seeking to participate in discussions with Vietnamese officials in Paris, France. In 1978, Bruce was declared “Presumed Dead/Killed in Action.” No remains have ever been found. Two books have been written which chronicle in part Kathleen’s heroic efforts in seeking to account for and bring her husband and MIA/POW servicemen home: Waiting Wives by Donna Moreau and The League of Wives by Heath Hardage Lee. Additionally, the Bob Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence, KS, featured Kathleen’s story through an entire exhibition, “Missing, Then Action: An Army Wife Speaks Out,” displayed there in 2022. Many of the historical articles and correspondence are now archived at the Institute.
After Lt. Col. Bruce Johnson was declared KIA, Kathleen and her family entered a new season of life. Kathleen met Robert R. Frisbie (Bob) of Salina, KS, and the two were married a year later. They were happily married for over 32 years until Bob passed away in 2011.
Kathleen moved from Salina to Freedom Village Senior Living in Holland, Michigan, in 2018, where she enjoyed spending time with her eldest son, Bruce, and his family. Kathleen’s life was undergirded and sustained by a deep, abiding faith in her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. She taught and participated in Bible studies for many years. Bruce, Bryan, and Colleen all testify that they are comforted by the belief that their mother, Kathleen, was greeted in Heaven with the words, “Well done!”
Kathleen was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and sister, Colleen Weiss. She is survived by her four other sisters: Janice Reghi, Pauline (Polly) Zmudka, Gayle Grant, and Naomi Leach. Her children are Bruce and Margie Johnson of Holland, Michigan; Bryan and Rebecca Johnson of McKinney, Texas; and Colleen and Kent Nunn of Highland Village, Texas. In addition to her children, Kathleen has ten grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at First Southern Baptist Church in Salina, KS, on Friday, November 15, at 11 a.m. It will be followed by a graveside service at Roselawn Cemetery, 1920 E. Crawford St., and a lunch reception at First Southern Baptist Church.
If desired, memorial gifts may be given in Kathleen’s honor to Higher Ground at Lake Louise, a camp in Michigan now serving fatherless children and one in which the family has a deeply rooted connection. (www.hgatll.com).
