Biography
Mary Sprunger-Froese is a Christian peace activist and war-tax resister associated with the Bijou Community in Colorado Springs. She was one of six prayer pilgrims arrested after entering the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly plant on February 10, 1981. Sprunger-Froese received an eight-month sentence and remained in custody until September 4, 1981. She later joined the 1985 Martin Marietta MX Witness action and became an artist-in-residence with RAWtools, which turns donated guns into garden tools.
The March 9, 1983 Nuclear Resister individually identifies Mary Sprunger-Froese of the Bijou House community with Sister Patricia McCormick as entering Rocky Flats on February 16, 1983, praying and pouring blood on crosses. Both refused recognizance bonds and were still confined at Denver County Jail when the newsletter appeared. An April 18 trial was prospective; the report does not establish actual discharge or total served.
Actual November 1985 release and unresolved first admission
The Martin Marietta update individually names Mary Sprunger-Froese and Al Zook as released from jail on November 1, 1985 on their own recognizance, following the September 27 MX-facility action. This corrects the old 1986 year-only endpoint and the September 26 action/arrest date. The report does not expressly establish the first physical booking day, so the old September 26 intake is removed rather than assuming an admission from the action date. No exact served-day total is calculated. The earlier 1981 Pantex stay remains separate and unchanged.
The Nuclear Resister No.36, December 9, 1985, original PDF pages 6.
March 1986 conviction after earlier release
The Martin MX report individually names Al Zook, Mary Sprunger-Froese and Marie Nord as found guilty March 5, 1986 of criminal mischief exceeding $300 after a two-day trial before Judge Henry Nieto. Burglary was dropped at the February pretrial hearing. The report explicitly says they were released following the verdict pending an April 28 sentencing date that was still in the future. This is not a new confirmed jail admission or final sentence date; earlier actual custody and separately verified later May proceedings remain distinct. The phrase over a month of earlier detention is not converted to an exact served-day count.
The Nuclear Resister No.38, March 10, 1986, original PDF pages 5,6.
Additional original custody evidence
The September 27, 1985 Martin MX action report expressly says Mary Sprunger-Froese, Marie Nord and Al Zook were arrested and taken to Jefferson County Jail, where they remained held. This supplies direct physical admission evidence that the later release report alone lacked. Mary’s first stay therefore begins September 27, not the previously rejected September 26. Her independently verified November 1 recognizance release and separate 1981 imprisonment remain unchanged.
The Nuclear Resister No.35, October 24, 1985: PDF page 2; PDF page 4.
The March 9, 1983 Nuclear Resister individually identifies Mary Sprunger-Froese of the Bijou House community with Sister Patricia McCormick as entering Rocky Flats on February 16, 1983, praying and pouring blood on crosses. Both refused recognizance bonds and were still confined at Denver County Jail when the newsletter appeared. An April 18 trial was prospective; the report does not establish actual discharge or total served.
The Nuclear Resister No.15, March 9, 1983, PDF pages 3, 16.
The individual Rocky Flats account dates the February 16, 1983 arrest of Mary Sprunger-Froese and Pat McCormick, followed by their refusal of recognizance and jail detention until trial. Both were convicted April 18 and received suspended fines. The issue separately lists them as recently out, proving actual release in 1983 but not explicitly April 18; exact discharge remains blank. This is distinct from Mary’s 1981 Pantex and 1985 Martin Marietta cases.
