Bonnie Sisson, age 78, of Kalispell Montana died on May 31st, 2024 in Virginia Beach, VA. She was born on May 24, 1946 to James and Alice Hunt, in Crookston, Minnesota. She was one of four children: Robert Hunt (deceased), Sharon Howard, and Jeri Ann Hunt (deceased). The family moved to Kalispell, Montana where Bonnie…
Continue ReadingBonnie Sisson, age 78, of Kalispell Montana died on May 31st, 2024 in Virginia Beach, VA. She was born on May 24, 1946 to James and Alice Hunt, in Crookston, Minnesota. She was one of four children: Robert Hunt (deceased), Sharon Howard, and Jeri Ann Hunt (deceased). The family moved to Kalispell, Montana where Bonnie graduated in the top 10 of her class from Flathead High School. She was a member of the National Honors Society and received multiple scholarships to a variety of colleges across the U.S. Unfortunately, due to the time period’s view of women, she was not encouraged to pursue these opportunities and did not know how to explore this avenue by herself.
She enrolled in Cosmetology School in Kalispell and when she graduated started working at Lakeshore Beauty Salon. Bonnie also did hair and makeup at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse, where she met her first husband, Ian Dellar, and moved to Calgary, Alberta. This was a short-lived romance and she moved back to Kalispell about 8 years later. At that time her brother, Bob, was still living in Kalispell with his wife Coralie and renting a small place to Coralie’s brother George Sisson. Bonnie and George met and married having 2 children, Jaime and Joshua, but divorced several years later.
With the help of her parents, Bonnie purchased her own salon in Kalispell and her business started growing, as did her family. She adopted her next two children, Berta Scabbyrobe and Chevy Thomas, making for a house full of fun and chaos. She owned and operated Sisson for Hair, fondly called “the shop”, for many years. Her salon as well as her home served as a community gathering space and sanctuary for a variety of people and animals. Her door was always open to anyone seeking refuge from the cold or from life. Local kids had an open invitation, on any given day you could walk in to meet 4-10 kids/teenagers. She also became a grandmother to Joseph Scabbyrobe in 1994 and helping raise him became the best part of her days.
Bonnie was an anchor in all of the lives she touched due to her spectacular advice, dry sense of humor, and willingness to open her home or shop to anyone in need. Bonnie was quite creative, artistic, and very intelligent. Without a lot of money, she transformed every apartment or house into her home. Bonnie was an ideal role model, as she was a single mother of four children AND running her own business successfully. Bonnie was evidence of what she had always known, women can do anything!
As the years progressed, Bonnie took care of her mother and her sister before they passed. She and Jeri Ann lived together for a few years enjoying gardening, the outdoors, and their dog, Mikey. After Jeri Ann passed and her children had all moved out of state, Bonnie retired to Virginia to get away from the harsh winters of Montana. Her granddaughter, Isannah, met her in Kalispell and drove her and Mikey (in a U-haul truck!) all the way to Portsmouth, Virginia. Later, she would tell people it was her favorite road trip. She lived with her daughter Jaime and her husband Tom with their daughter, Isannah, and her partner, Erick, also living close enough to visit often.
Bonnie spent half of the year in Virginia and the other half in Tennessee with her son Josh, his wife Christine and their children, Joseph and Jenna. In Virginia Bonnie liked going to Beazley Senior Center for many of their free classes. She enjoyed painting, chair yoga, and her favorite was woodcarving. She met some really good friends and would go on outings to North Carolina frequently. In Tennessee, Josh and Christine built her a cabin in the Smoky Mountains where she enjoyed gardening, sheltering the local dogs, and feeding/photographing all of the wildlife coming through her yard.
Bonnie is survived by her sister, Sharon Howard, her husband Gary and their daughter, Tristyn, her children Jaime Sisson, Joshua Sisson, Norberta Scabbyrobe, and Chevy Thomas, her grandchildren, Joseph Scabbyrobe, Isannah Umtuch, Joseph Sisson, Jenna Sisson, Brylen Scabbyrobe, Bethalin Scabbyrobe, Baylor Scabbyrobe, Cherai Thomas, Chevy Thomas Jr., Cheyden Thomas, Cheysheen Thomas, and her first and only great-granddaughter, Nohea Scabbyrobe, whom she was able to meet in her final years and very much adored. She is also survived by many loving friends, coworkers, and a passel of kids she helped raise (you know who you are!).
Bonnie chose to donate her remains to the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center. Generally speaking forensic anthropology is the examination of human skeletal remains for law enforcement agencies to help with the recovery of human remains, determine the identity of unidentified human remains, interpret trauma, and estimate time since death. For more information please visit Fast Facts – Forensic Anthropology Center (utk.edu)
Any type of gathering has yet to be determined. In lieu of flowers and cards, Bonnie and her family would prefer donations to her chosen charity organizations:
Your local Planned Parenthood
https://www.
Use the “Specific Giving” tab to find your local office or call (800) 430.4907
University of Tennessee Anthropology Dept. https://fac.utk.edu/financial-
Email: donateinfo@utk.edu or call: Mary Davis (865) 974.4408
Bigfork Center for Performing Arts https://www.bigforkcenter.
Email: info@bigforkcenter.org or call (406) 837.4885
CASA de Virginia https://wearecasa.org/donate/
Email: development@wearecasa.org or call (240) 491.5788
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