DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of the official marker for Dr. Bonner Frizzell, standing in Anderson County, Texas. Now, some folks leave a mark on a town.
And then there are folks who spend thirty-one years shaping the minds inside it — and somehow still get called a friend for it. Bonner Frizzell was the second kind. He came into this world in 1882, out in the Pine Grove Community, near Athens.
His daddy was William Asachel Frizzell, his mother Frances Missouri, born a Knight before she was a Frizzell. Young Bonner grew up and made his way to Athens proper, where he attended Bruce Academy for high school, then packed up again for Tyler to study at Tyler Commercial College. At eighteen years old — barely old enough to know what he didn't know — he started his career in education by teaching algebra and geometry to a pair of children.
Two students. That was the whole operation. You'd think a man might look at those odds and reconsider.
Bonner looked at those odds and got started. He went on to enroll at Texas Christian University, which at the time was located in Waco, and in 1909 he walked out of there with not one degree but two — a B.A. and an M.A. Then, 1910 into 1911, he attended the Pulitzer School of Journalism at Columbia University.
The man had range. After teaching for a few years at Texas A&M University, he accepted a position in 1913 as principal at Rusk Grade School in Palestine. And 1913 was a big year for Bonner Frizzell in another way, too — that same year, he married Jennie Elizabeth Keller.
Six years later, in 1919, Palestine named him superintendent and business manager of its schools. Now here's where the story settles in and gets serious. That position?
He held it for the next thirty-one years. Thirty-one years. While he was doing that, he still found time during the summers of 1925 and 1926 to complete his doctoral studies at the University of Texas.
The classroom never really let him go — and he never really tried to leave it. Outside the schoolhouse, Bonner stayed busy. He served as president of the Palestine Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Y.M.C.A.
He was a life member of the Texas State Teachers Association and served as its vice president in 1925. When Frizzell retired in 1951, the student-produced Arc Light — a publication by the students of Palestine High School — paid tribute to him with words that don't need any embellishment from me. They wrote that they admired him for his great knowledge, respected him for his fine sense of sportsmanship and fair play, loved him for his kindness and sympathy, and above all, counted him as their friend.
That's students saying that. About their superintendent. Let that settle a moment.
Dr. Frizzell didn't stop after retirement, either. He remained a tireless promoter of public education until his death in 1968.
Two students and an algebra textbook, all the way to a doctorate and thirty-one years leading Palestine's schools. That's one long, steady, remarkable arc.
What the marker says
Bonner Frizzell was born in the Pine Grove Community, near Athens, in 1882. He was the son of William Asachel and Frances Missouri (Knight) Frizzell. Bonner attended high school at Bruce Academy in Athens and then moved to Tyler to attend Tyler Commercial College. At eighteen, he began his career in education by teaching algebra and geometry to a pair of children. He then entered Texas Christian University (then in Waco), where he graduated in 1909 with both B.A. and M.A. degrees. He later attended the Pulitzer School of Journalism at Columbia University 1910-1911. After teaching for a few years at Texas A&M University, Frizzell accepted a position in 1913 as principal at Rusk Grade School in Palestine; that same year, he married Jennie Elizabeth Keller. In 1919, Bonner was named superintendent and business manager of Palestine Schools, a position he would hold for the next 31 years. Bonner went on to complete doctoral studies at the University of Texas during the summers of 1925 and 1926. Frizzell was involved in many civic endeavors. He served as president of the Palestine Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and the Y.M.C.A. He was also a life member of the Texas State Teachers Association, where he served as vice president in 1925. In 1951, after Frizzell’s retirement, the student-produced Arc Light paid tribute to him with these words: “the students of Palestine High School admire him for his great knowledge, respect him for his fine sense of sportsmanship and fair play, love him for his kindness and sympathy and above all, count him as their friend.” Dr. Frizzell remained a tireless promoter of public education until his death in 1968. (2010)