Linda Bisoux

LINDA JEANNE BISOUX, age 75, passed away at home on the morning of April 11, 2023. She left this life, with her family by her side, after a nearly two-year struggle to recover from a brain injury sustained from a diabetic coma.

Linda was born January 30, 1948, to Margaret Mary (“Doll”) Bisoux and Robert Lee Bisoux in Belleville, Illinois. She grew up in Freeburg, Illinois, where she graduated from Freeburg Community Consolidated High School in 1965. After graduating high school, she worked as a night-shift keypunch operator at Missouri Pacific Railroad in St. Louis before moving in 1969 to Chicago, where she worked at Hyde Park Federal Savings & Loan as secretary to the bank’s president. In the early 1970s, she moved from Chicago to Mountain View, Missouri, to be nearer to her mother, brother, and younger sister. She worked for over 30 years at the Bank of Mountain View. After a short retirement, she worked for two years for the State of Missouri in an office that supported infrastructure projects.

Linda was soft-spoken, funny, and caring. She was friendly, but also difficult to befriend—as those who knew her would attest! But once Linda let you into her inner circle, you were treated to her kindness and dry, quirky sense of humor. Sometimes you were never certain whether or not she was kidding, until her beautiful blue eyes twinkled and she broke into a playful smile. Even after her brain injury, she made us laugh, whether she was pretending to sleep until she couldn’t suppress her laughter or betting how many walls we would hit with her wheelchair as we took her back to her room.

One of her favorite pastimes was to read and watch tongue-in-cheek British murder mysteries, from classics such as Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Poirot to newer offerings such as Agatha Raisin, Queens of Mystery, and Death in Paradise. She told us that she enjoyed getting to know the characters and watching the mysteries unfold. She also was an avid movie buff, who especially loved watching films from the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. She never tired of watching her favorites such as Singin’ in the Rain, The Court Jester, and White Christmas. She could tell you the name and filmography of almost any actor or actress on the spot.

Dogs delighted her, especially her beloved sister-and-brother lab/chow-chow mixes QT and Crusher, which were with her for about ten years; she spoke of them fondly years later. She also loved giving gifts, where her quirky side also shone through. Gifts from Linda often contained surprises, whether it was a tiny present wrapped in larger boxes or an unexpected noisemaker. She enjoyed being creative (an attribute she inherited from her mother), gifting friends and family with everything from handmade keychains and to handmade ornaments. She loved to crochet—each year at Christmas, she gave us crocheted angels in all colors and sizes, which we will cherish forever. In her last act of giving, she became a tissue donor with the help of Mid-America Transplant of St. Louis.

When her mother was diagnosed with advanced melanoma in the late 1990s, Linda moved in to take care of her full-time until Margaret’s death in February 2002. When her brother Bobby struggled with alcoholism, she brought him into her home to try to help until his passing in 2018. Losing her mother and brother in these ways was among the great sorrows of her life. And while she had no kids of her own, she took great joy in children; Linda helped care for her younger sister Tricia throughout her childhood, and she regularly supported charities dedicated to helping children.

Linda loved deeply but privately, and she also had a stubborn streak—she made it clear that she did not want anyone telling her what to do! When her sister Tricia recently asked her what advice she would give for this life, Linda responded, “Be your own boss, no matter what!” But she also revealed her tender side when she said, “When you love someone, you love them no matter what they do.”

Although we wish that more people had had the opportunity to know Linda as we did, we hope that one part of her legacy will be to underscore the importance of welcoming new friends, nurturing personal connections, and being open to new experiences. Linda also would be the first to tell you to “be your own boss” and take advantage of all this brief life has to offer.

She was preceded in death by her parents Robert Lee Bisoux and Margaret Bisoux; brother Robert Lee Bisoux, Jr. (of Mountain View); several aunts and uncles; brother-in-law Marshall Mullins; cousin Tom Chrismer; and most recently cousin Patricia (Clark) Dorn. 

She is survived by sister Marilyn Mullins of St. Charles, Missouri; sister Tricia Bisoux and partner Ed Humble of St. Louis; and several cousins, including Amy (Clark) Greenawalt, Barbara Jean (Clark) Nordquist, Bobby Clark, Lanette Nordquist, Karra (Nordquist) LaFata, Ann (Bisou) Montgomery, and Bernie Chrismer. She also would want to send her love to her friend Suehelen Gritton; her sister-in-law Elizabeth Bisoux; and Elizabeth’s daughter Margaret (Johnson) Willbanks, Margaret’s husband Cody, and their children Ellie, Theo, and Stevie. The family also would like to extend their thanks to Linda’s caregivers Marletta, Janice, and Sarah.

The family is planning to hold a celebration of life later this summer. Donations can be made in Linda’s memory to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (www.stjude.org/give) or Ozarks Food Harvest (www.ozarksfoodharvest.org/).