Only those who’ve experienced life off the grid know well how hard it is to sustain themselves with limited means and away from regular civilization. However, “Alaska: The Last Frontier” has done well in letting us see glimpses of how the Kilcher family lives in their self-sustained homestead, miles away from Homer, Alaska.
At the center of the show, there’s Atz Kilcher, the family’s patriarch who is a hard-working man with an interesting, yet imperfect past. It’s also common to see his wife Bonnie Dupree, whose on-screen appearances maintain curiosity over her personal awakening, despite how many years the show has been airing.
That said, Atz and Bonnie’s love story isn’t the only interesting storyline in the show, as the Kilcher patriarch’s former relationship has also caused endless curiosity in viewers.
So, who is Atz’s current wife Bonnie? What happened to his previous wife, and is it true that they had a troubled past? Keep with us to find out!
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Who Is Bonnie Dupree?
Fans have gotten to know and appreciate Bonnie Dupree through the screen of “Alaska: The Last Frontier” since 2012. She’s the long-time wife of Atz Kilcher, the main star of the show, and patriarch of the family who is also a skilled musician, homestead owner, and writer.
While not much is known about how Atz and Bonnie got together, or her past, it’s clear that their relationship is as stable and full of love as it gets. Not only do their interactions in the show let us see how sweet and supportive they are of each other, but they also don’t shy away from showing their love for each other on their social media.
Unfortunately, it’s unclear what Bonnie’s personal story is, except that she has several children named Hanna and Kart from a previous marriage, just as Atz also welcomed four children before getting together with Bonnie. According to her Facebook page, she’s been ‘enjoying the Alaskan lifestyle’ for four decades, which hints that she’s not a native of the Last Frontier State.
It’s known that Bonnie was born on 5 February 1954, and is a full-time artist. On top of that, Bonnie and her husband recently established their Atz Kilcher Alaskan Adventure Cabins.
Where Is Atz’s Former Wife?
Long before meeting and marrying Bonnie Dupree, Atz Kilcher was married to a woman named Leneda Carroll. It’s unclear when the couple met and married, but their eldest child Shane was born in 1971, while Atz was still attending university.
In 1974, Atz and Lenedra welcomed Jewel, their only daughter, who would decades later become a renowned pop singer. Three years later, the family welcomed their second son Atz Lee, but their story together drastically changed when Lenedra and Atz separated in 1982. According to Jewel’s book “Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story”, Atz also had a son named Nikos by a woman with whom he had a brief relationship.
Following the divorce, Lenedra moved away from Alaska, but and eventually reconnected with Jewel when the latter moved to Michigan to enroll at Interlochen Arts Academy on a scholarship. Very few things about Lenedra are known though, except that she’s a singer and writer, though she’s mostly known for being her daughter Jewel’s former manage, before the singer fired her alleging embezzlement.
Despite her moderate success as a creative and the massive attention she has gained for her professional involvement with her daughter, not many details about Lenedra’s personal life are known to this day. However, it’s a given that she’s estranged from her children with Atz.
Family Issues
Although the Kilchers are the center of a reality documentary show, neither Atz nor his sons Shane and Atz Lee often talk about their troubled family dynamics from the past in “Alaska: The Last Frontier”. However, it’s a different story for Jewel, who not only has been very open about her issues with her mother and former manager Lenedra but also about her turbulent childhood and the mistreatment she received from her father Atz.
According to Jewel, her parents lived in Utah at the time of her birth, but didn’t take long before moving to the family’s homestead in Alaska, which her grandfather Yule Kilcher had established decades before. From then on, Jewel’s childhood was as unusual as it gets, as she split her time learning how to make music and performing with her family at hotels, while dealing with the harshness provided by the lack of plumbing and electricity in her house.
Upon her parents’ divorce, Jewel and her brothers were left with Atz, whom the singer admits had troubled ways of dealing with his anxiety and other issues caused by his Vietnam War post-traumatic stress disorder – this led him to become abusive to his children and develop an alcohol addiction.
In the end, Jewel ended up running away from home at a very young age, eventually landing in California, where her successful career as a singer sped up. Nonetheless, unlike the show. her insights let us see a different side of the Kilcher family.
What Are Atz and Bonnie Doing Now?
Compared to the life the Kilchers had several decades ago, their lifestyle and relationships now look far more peaceful and settled. For a start, the Kilcher homestead has gone through several modifications which keep its self-sustainable essence, while also making the family’s lifestyles easier. That’s one of the reasons why Atz and Bonnie established their rental cabin, as it allows them to offer their clients a comfortable and peaceful stay in every sense of the word.
When it comes to the family dynamics, it’s safe to say that now Atz has a far more peaceful relationship with his children than he did in the past. These changes came with Atz becoming sober and coming to terms with the physical abuse he was a victim of during his childhood at the hands of his father Yule, all of which Atz confessed in his memoir “Son of a Midnight Land”.
Now that Atz has reconnected his relationship with Jewel and his sons, he’s also developed a relationship with his grandchildren, whom he sometimes features on his Instagram account.
All in all, it hasn’t been an easy road for the Kilchers, but they’ve always found a way to overcome the difficulties inherent in their everyday lives, living in one of the more remote areas of the world..
