Ethel June Bossuot

Ethel June Frost Bossuot was born to G. E. (Gearald) and Lois Rossiter Frost in Corvallis, OR on October 10, 1936 and passed away on April 3, 2026. Ethel joined sisters Janette Jarvis, Claudia Sandquist at home and later came Jackie Caizza.

In the summer time, the girls worked summer jobs including in the hop yard. Lois never learned how to drive, so the girls walked from their house to the hop yard. Walking to places came pretty normal to the girls.

Ethel started grade school in Corvallis in the summer of 1946. The Frost family, moved to Burns as Gearald went in to partnership with his brother Kenneth Frost running a saw mill that was 7 miles above Van. The mill was purchased from the Ott family of Drewsey. In addition to the mill was a nice house with no electricity and bunk house for the crew. They did have a crank telephone and with 2 longs and 1 short you could call out for local calls. To make a long distance call you had to call the Clevelands as Mrs. Cleveland ran the switch board.

Croquet was a family game and at the mill it turned into cow pasture pool. Lois was always hard to beat.

The girls would help gather the family horse.

The family spent their summers at the mill and came into Burns for school in August each year. All of the family worked at the mill. Ethel’s job at first was being the water carrier for the mill crew. They got cold water at 8 and 10 a.m. then again at 1 and 3 p.m. There were 1 gallon glass jugs that were covered with a cloth that were wetted down to help keep them cold. There were usually 4 jugs for each time period. Jackie got elected to that position when Ethel went on to work on the green chain where she put stickers in between each layer of lumber for the purpose of helping the lumber dry out. After 5 pm, the girls would climb on the huge piles of sawdust.

A note of interest, when the family first got to the mill, the logs were moved by a team of work horses. The horses were big enough that the family has a picture of all four sisters sitting on one horse.

After moving to Burns, Ethel started attending the Pioneer Presbyterian Church. At that time, there was just the current basement. She held various positions in the church and sang in the choir and held a strong belief in God.

While Ethel was in high school, Alan Bossuot was hired as a truck driver there at the mill. Lois and Ethel had to make a sign that read “Look Out for Logging Trucks”, so for fun they made one more sign that read “Look Out for Alan”. Jackie recalled that she had heard that Alan had trouble making the corner into the log deck when he read the sign. This led to a blooming romance and they got engaged at Christmas time in 1953.

There were ice caves nearby on Wolf Creek. Alan would climb down into the cave in July so that everyone could enjoy homemade ice cream for the 4th of July. The salt from where they made the ice cream on the porch would attract porcupines.

Lois had a garden 7 miles from the mill at the Cleveland Ranch. The older girls would help with the garden. Lois fed ½ the crew and the other ½ ate at the Twinam’s house. The crew always ate first and then the girls were allowed to eat.

Ethel graduated from high school and they were married the next summer on June 13, 1954.

David Bossuot was born to the family in 1955 and Dauna in 1957. Ethel was a house wife for many years and helped out in the hay field with her father in law Vern. During that time she was a Cub Scout leader, Brownie and Girl Scout Leader. She finally went to work for Bonnie Woods at the Sears catalog store in Burns for many years.

Alan purchased the welding shop from Sam and Smokey Gunderson and Ethel later purchased the building next to it to do the book keeping and then expanded the business in to the cute Balloon Express and Medical supplies.

Keeping her medical store in operation for the community was very important to her. She would visit her customers no matter where in the county and check their medical equipment. Sometimes she would take her grandkids along. It meant a lot to her when her granddaughter Darbie decided to go into the medical field. Ethel always cared deeply for her customers and patients until 2016 when she decided to retire at the age of 80.

Over the years, Ethel loved to organize family reunions and help with her class reunions. She was named Woman of the Year and also Business Person of the Year in 1988. She was very active and supportive in the Sylvia Rebekah Lodge, Chamber of Commerce and was President of the Chamber for 1989. One of her most rewarding projects was Harney County Rise and Shine Clean up. Many months of work went into this project and she worked with community leaders, clubs, organizations, schools and government agencies to be involved in this project. She received a semi-finalist award from the President of the United States, President Regan in Washington D. C. Both Ethel and Alan went to Washington D. C. at their own expense.

Ethel will be remembered as a devoted leader, business owner, and tireless supporter of the community. As a former Chamber of Commerce President, she played a vital role in promoting and strengthening Burns, Hines and Harney Co.

Ethel owned and operated Balloon express, a business that became a symbol of celebration and community spirit. She brought color and joy to countless events by generously donating her balloons and helping make each occasion more vibrant and memorable.

Her dedication to the community was especially evident during the Centennial celebration in 1989. The celebration was meaningful and special to everyone. Events throughout the year celebrated and made it a special Centennial for all.

Ethel was also involved in promoting tourism for Burns, Hines and Harney County. She and a few others traveled to Portland to the Sportsman Shows and Idaho to showcase Burns, Hines and Harney Co. Those individuals were instrumental in getting the hot air balloons to come to Harney County. Always working to highlight the areas strengths and opportunities.

Ethel gave freely of her time and energy, consistently stepping up to help make our communities and county events successful. Her commitment, generosity and pioneering spirt helped shape a brighter future for the communities and county that she loved.

She loved watching and supporting her grandkids and great grandchildren in whatever sport they were participating in. Ethel was very proud of each of them and would light inside up with each visit to the end.

Ethel is survived by her children Dave Bossuot (Mardi Stewart), Dauna Wensenk (Tim Riley), sisters Janette Jarvis, Jackie (Sam) Caizza, grandchildren Darbie (Adam) Kemper, Cole Wensenk, Bret (Lydia) Bossuot, Sean (Charity) Wensenk, 9 grandchildren, numerous nieces and nephews.

Ethel was preceded in death by her husband Alan Bossuot, parents Gearald and Lois Frost and sister Claudia Sandquist.

Donations can be made to the Presbyterian Church. A service will be held on April 20, 2026 at 11:00 a.m. at the Presbyterian Church.