Kathleen Bonelle Frisbie was peacefully called home to be with the Lord on November 4, 2024.
Kathleen was born to Hilbert and Florine Weiss on December 13, 1936, in Harbor Beach, Michigan, and grew up in nearby Port Hope. She attended Harbor Beach High School and graduated as Salutatorian with her high school sweetheart, Bruce G. Johnson of Harbor Beach. After Kathleen earned her RN license at Harper Hospital School of Nursing, she married Bruce in 1958. They had three children: Bruce, Bryan, and Colleen.
As a member of Wheaton College ROTC, Bruce served in the US Army after their marriage and became Missing in Action in Vietnam in 1965 while the children were very young (5, 4, and 2 years old, respectively). Some 13 years went by while Kathleen and the kids awaited word of the fate of their husband/father. Finally, in 1978, Bruce was declared “Presumed Dead/Killed in Action.” During those 13 years, Kathleen faithfully, courageously, and selflessly raised her children in Salina, Kansas, near a military base created for waiting families. Kathleen was active in the MIA/POW cause as a co-founding National League of Families member. She attended several meetings with government officials in Washington, DC, and discussions with Vietnam officials in Paris, France. During this time, she also completed a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Kansas Wesleyan College.
After the long period of waiting to learn the fate and ultimately the death of her husband, Lt. Col. Bruce G. Johnson from Vietnam, Kathleen and her family entered a new season of life. As the children were moving on to college, Kathleen met Robert (Bob) R. Frisbie of Salina, Kansas, and the two were married in 1979. They enjoyed travel and entertaining in their home and provided a unique and inspiring example of how a man should treat his wife and how a wife should treat her husband. They were married for 32 years until Bob died in 2011.
Kathleen moved from Salina to Freedom Village Senior Living in Holland, Michigan, in 2018. There, she lived near her oldest son, Bruce H. Johnson, and his family.
Bruce, Bryan, and Colleen all testify that they are comforted by the belief that their mother, Kathleen, was greeted in Heaven by her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, 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. In addition to her children, Kathleen has 10 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be 6-8 pm Monday, November 11 ,2024 and from 9-10:45 am Tuesday, November 12, 2024, at Yntema Funeral Home, 251 South State Street, Zeeland with her funeral service to follow at 11 am. A luncheon reception with the family will follow.
If desired, memorial contributions may be given in Kathleen’s honor to Higher Ground at Lake Louise, a camp now serving fatherless children and one in which the family has a deep rooted connection.
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