Catherine Elizabeth Bisong

A celebration of life ceremony with a lunch reception to follow, will be held Sunday, October 1st promptly at 1:00 p.m. Please arrive early to allow time for parking.

Location: The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska, MN. 

In honor of Catherine Bisong please wear something white and yellow to the celebration of life.

Flowers may be sent to The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum addressed to Catherine Bisong
Celebration of Life. 

In lieu of flowers you can donate in preparation of the ceremony, please click on the link:
CatherineBisongCelebration of Life

Guestbook is located at bottom of the page for you to sign.

Catherine was born July 5, 1941, to Clara and Henry Jackson Sr. in Little Rock, Arkansas. Catherine accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of twelve and was baptized at Mt. Nebo Baptist Church, their family church in College Station, Arkansas. Catherine attended Horace Mann High School in Little Rock, where she was friends with some of the Little Rock Nine (the first African American students to desegregate Little Rock Central High School).

She received her post-secondary education from Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC) in Wisconsin where she studied design, Minnesota State Board of Vocational-Technical Education for nursing-long term care, and in-home nursing care from Shamrock. Catherine worked as a nurse for many years at Ebenezer Nursing Home and Walker Methodist Nursing Home. She finished out her career at Wilson Leather as a seamstress where she applied her sewing skills which she acquired from her mom and grandmother. 

Catherine was married to Robert Louis Stevson in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1960. This union was blessed with five children. In 1978 she remarried Obia Richard Bisong in Las Vegas, NV. This union was blessed with two children.

Catherine was an elegant, stylish, classy, spicy, and a loving woman. She made a presence in every room she entered and was even nicknamed “Mrs. Hollywood” by her children’s friends. She loved to sew and loved fashion. She dreamed of opening her own boutique “Catherine Bisong Boutique”. Many of her children and grandchildren have followed in her creative footsteps. She enjoyed spending time and traveling with her children and grandchildren. Catherine played a major role in helping raise her grandchildren. Family was everything to her. She also enjoyed visiting Milwaukee to visit her siblings and relatives every summer. 

Catherine passed away peacefully on Saturday morning of September 2, 2023, at her St. Louis Park home surrounded by her loving children who were singing Amazing Grace as she took her last breath. She is preceded in death by her parents Clara Powell, Henry Jackson Sr., John Powell Sr.; husband Obia Bisong; daughter Yvonne Stevson; granddaughter Faidat Alowonle; six sisters Henrietta Davenport, Hazelbeth Loinley, Olga Pugh, Marie Jackson, Mryna Emmons, Brenda Brown; and five brothers Paul Jackson, Abraham Jackson, David Jackson, Favis Jackson, and Rev. Green D. Jackson Sr.

She’s lovingly remembered by her three sisters Naomi “Larena” Stevson, Favorilette “Faye” Simms, and Pauline Jackson; two brothers Henry “Junior” (Premella) Jackson Jr. and John “Sunny” (Schontelle) Powell Jr.; four daughters Rhonda Stevson, Elizabeth “Lisa” (Bobby) Patterson, Kechi “Chin” (Mike) Duffy, Njigia “Jell” Bisong; two sons Robert “Stevie” (Mary) Tesch-Stevson and Eldridge “Rick” (Sharon) Stevson; fourteen grandchildren Q (Meagan) Stevson, Micole Patterson, Alexander “Alex” Stevson, Max Tesch-Stevson, DaRondra (Jason) Willhite, Tamar Patterson, Cole Tesch-Stevson, Bence Taylor, Emanuel Patterson, Sophie Duffy, Sadiiq Bisong, Haley Tesch-Stevson, Sienna Duffy, and Edric Duffy; four great grandchildren Anderson, Alexander, Jackson, and Adrian Willhite; as well as a host of other loving relatives and dear friends.