MONROE — For more than two decades Kristin (Bieneman) Bansley worked for the School District of Monroe as a foreign language teacher, and, most recently, the Gifted and Talented program coordinator. On Aug. 18, just two weeks before classes were to resume this fall, Frau Bansley, as she was known by many of her former German students, died suddenly. She was 53.

“I was absolutely shocked to hear the news. She had no vices, and she was relatively young and healthy,” said Jeriamy Jackson, Monroe High School principal and longtime co-worker of Bansley’s. “I had seen her just earlier that morning at the middle school between meetings. I gave her a quick smile and wave. She was a big part of this school community. It’s a tough loss to start the school year.”

Jackson praised her pride and commitment to her hometown community and the foreign language programs in the district. 

Kristin was born to Les and Francy Bieneman and raised in Monroe, graduating in 1987. She began teaching in the 1990s, and spent most of her time as a teacher educating Monroe students. She taught German at the middle and high schools, and Japanese in the high school. She was currently the district’s Gifted and Talented program coordinator. 

She worked for several years with Karen Fowdy, a former German teacher at MHS. The two formed an almost immediate bond as coworkers.

“I started as her mentor, but we quickly became more than that. We became great friends and had many adventures together. We talked about everything, every day,” said Fowdy, who retired a decade ago. “It’s a huge loss. She dedicated her life to this community.”

Fowdy said it was Bansley’s efficiency and behind-the-scene efforts that made many events run seamlessly.

“Kristin was so efficient and modest that I think many people in the school district, or even Monroe, aren’t going to realize for a while the things she did and the impact she had because she’s not doing them here anymore. She was just always getting things done,” Fowdy said.

Due to her time teaching at both the middle and as high schools, nearly every Monroe student that took a German language course during a 20-year period from the late 90s until the 2010s had her as a teacher at some point — thousands of students in total. 

After Fowdy retired, Alla Schwartz came on board to teach German in 2015. Schwartz is a native of Ukraine and said that Bansley was the first person to welcome her into the community and the school.

“She was never judgmental. I still can’t believe I have lost her and her support. I loved her back,” Schwartz said. “She was my link to this community. This was a whole new country, a new home for me. She was like my GPS.”

Schwartz said Bansley was a great partner to have in the school and never shot down one of Schwartz’s “wild ideas.”

“She always knew best how to put a project in motion,” Schwartz said. “We were great partners and friends.”

When Russia invaded Schwartz’ homeland of Ukraine in February 2022, she was devastated. Bansley came to her aid right away and covered all of Schwartz’s classes the next day.

Along with teaching, Bansley gave years of service to the Green County Fair Board, the Young Americans 4-H club, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Monroe Jaycees, and worked the ticket booth at many MHS sporting events.

She married Adam Bansley on Oct. 27, 2007 and the two continued to live in Monroe, raising a son, Elijah. Kristin loved to travel and enjoyed watching Adam perform with his band. Other hobbies included baking and remodeling a vintage RV she and Adam had purchased earlier this year.

But on Aug. 18, the Bansley’s life changed forever.

“With broken hearts we share with you the loss of our beloved Kristin on Thursday. She was a deeply loved wife, mother, daughter, sister and friend,” Adam Bansley wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 20.

“I feel bad for her husband and family,” Schwartz said. “Nobody was prepared. It’s something that probably won’t hit me until I get back to school.

“I feel angry it happened to her. She touched so many lives in this community. She was just a bright person. It will be really tough to go back to school.”

Funeral services will be held Thursday, Aug. 25 at Shriner-Hager-Go hlke Funeral Home in Monroe with Pastor Todd Hackman officiating.