PB native pens book on Eastside

Betty Jane Frizzell’s life is filled with conflicting reflections. Growing up on the Eastside of Poplar Bluff, she works to keep memories alive of her favorite part of town while escaping her family’s legacy of crime, addiction and abuse to become a respected law enforcement officer and teacher.

She’s written a book about her life and the Eastside.

“The Eastside is the backdrop for my family since the turn of the century,” Frizzell said. “My grandmother was born in a covered wagon crossing Black River. It was my mom’s playground in the 1950s. The love and encouragement I got from the teachers at J. Minnie Smith pushed me to dream for the life I wanted not the one I was born into. While writing this book, I want to give the Eastside back as much as it gave me.”

Her best memories are of Black River, which she describes as, “something almost magical being on its bank in the summertime. Between the fireflies and the mosquitoes, I daydreamed about a better life waiting for a train to come by.”

Frizzell is pleased she’s named for Poplar Bluff’s first woman mayor Betty Absheer. She believes her mother’s continued reminders of Absheer attributes helped her grow into the woman she is today.

Frizzell credits this association with Absheer and the things Absheer has done in her life with helping in her own life’s journey.

“Mom would buy a paper from someone selling them on the street across from the courthouse every day,” she said. “I didn’t know many words but I knew my name so I would scan the paper for the word Betty just to see if she was mentioned.

“Growing up one street over from her and seeing how she carried herself as a woman of faith, dignity and sense of humor made me believe I could do the same. She made me not ashamed to be from the Eastside. I was as proud as she was when she became the first female mayor. Her graceful attributes I took with me when I went into law enforcement and the rest of my professional career. “

She also recalls when her namesake and mentor had to carry a gun when she worked for the Poplar Bluff Housing Authority.

Frizzell is the former chief of the Winfield Police Department in Missouri. She began her career in 1997 with an aim to assist victims of sexual assault. She served as a deputy sheriff in both the Lincoln and Ripley County sheriff’s departments. During her time with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, she helped develop the first sex crimes unit and was the first female officer to join the S.W.A.T. team. She later worked as a police officer and gang investigator for the city of Louisiana, Missouri, before becoming the Winfield chief.

Retiring from policing, Taylor began teaching courses on sexual assault investigations as an adjunct professor of criminal justice. She holds master’s degrees in writing and criminal justice administration. She served as a member of the Citizens Advisory Board for the State of Missouri Department of Corrections: Probation and Parole Division and was honored as the Lincoln County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year in 2001.

Frizzell currently resides in Seattle, Washington, but remains closely connected.

Frizzell’s saddest memory of the Eastside is “the poverty that consumed my Eastside classmates. When I went back for my 20-year reunion, I realized only a handful of my childhood friends made it with me. That fork in the road when we left the comfort and support of J. Minnie Smith for junior high destroyed some bright people with enormous potential. As a detective early in my career, I visited prisons and sometimes it was like old home week and very heartbreaking.”

Before Frizzell’s mother died, she begged Frizzell to take care of her sister Vicky Isaac. Frizzell regrets she wasn’t able to keep the promise.

On May 12, 2013, Frizzell’s 48-year-old sister of Puxico, a woman with a history of learning disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, and drug addiction loaded a .22 caliber handgun and shot her husband while he slept in the trailer they shared with Vicky’s adult son. According to police reports, Isaac called 911 confessing to the crime.

Frizzell’s investigation into her sister’s situation led her to write this book and uncovered sad realities about mental illness, small-town politics, and a society that doesn’t care about “poor,” “trash.”

There are never easy answers when the odds are stacked against you and no amount of elegies will save your family, she said.

“I need to take that journey of discovery to understand how I arrived in the life I have,” Frizzell said. “It was very cathartic to go back and re-live all the bad with the good. The first step to healing is to remove the Band-Aid. In my case, the Band-Aid covered a lot of secrets and trauma.

“By sharing my story perhaps, it will provide those suffering with transgenerational trauma with hope for a better life through recognizing their generational strengths. Remember our ancestors gave more than just wounds. I encourage those to have the courage to break the patterns in life that are no longer serve a purpose. Seek one’s own destiny but do so in faith, joy and happiness to others.”

Living between Seattle and St. Louis a majority of her adult life plus traveling the world, Frizzell said, “I wouldn’t change growing up on the Eastside. I hope the book shows people how genuine and unique our town and people are. I hope I represented them in a loving truthful manner and my pride shows through.”

The book about her family and its history “You Can’t Quit Cryin’, You Can’t Come Here No More: A Family’s Legacy of Poverty, Crime and Mental Illness in Rural America” is due out Sept. 21.