Edna Mae Freeland

She was sister to Gladys, Delbert, George, Robert, Donald, Carolyn “Sue”. Two of Edna Mae's siblings, Carl and Barbara, sadly both died in infancy. Edna Mae was the second born and there was a 23 year age span between first born Gladys and ninth child Sue. Sue, at the age of two, served as flower girl at Edna’s Mae's wedding. Edna Mae and her siblings all were raised in Mountain Grove, Missouri. They all grew up in an environment of very simple means by today’s standards – their home in those early years had no running water and no electricity. They lived just fine without the luxury of indoor plumbing that we currently enjoy as a basic necessity. All Thomas children attended the same one-room schoolhouse. Edna Mae recounted that there were no school buses back then. They had a three- mile walk to school and back every day.

Edna Mae and all of her siblings eventually relocated to Kansas City MO following their time in Mountain Grove.

Edna Mae graduated from high school in Mountain Grove and went on to College at Missouri University in Columbia, MO with the ultimate aim of becoming a teacher.

In the mid 1940’s, Edna Mae was introduced to Paul Freeland by a close family friend and brother to Paul. Their courtship was brief and Paul and Edna Mae exchanged wedding vows on January 4, 1947, in Kansas City, MO. They don’t have too many professional photographs from that event. As the story goes, their hired and paid photographer skipped town never to be seen again! They have one single wedding image from his photo session. Thankfully, there were other family members and friends present to document their special occasion.

After Paul and Edna Mae were wed, the two relocated to Anderson, Indiana where Paul attended seminary school at Anderson College and worked diligently towards a Bible Studies Degree. During that time, Edna Mae worked for Sears, Roebuck and Company. One often recollected anecdote from that period was the story of Paul and Edna Mae fixing up their apartment so nicely that when their landlord beheld their lovely home, he soon after raised their rent!

Paul ultimately received his degree from Anderson College and following their time there, they moved to Ashland, Kansas. In Ashland, Paul served in his first pastorate role at First Church of God (Anderson). Many of his flock during this period were well-to-do farmers, devout in their faith, and very early risers. One anecdote from that period – Paul and Edna Mae were enjoying a 7am breakfast together and had a knock at the door from some surprise visitors of their community. They hastily disposed of any evidence of such a “late” breakfast prior to greeting their Ashland neighbors!

After Paul’s duties came to a close in Ashland, they moved to West Plains, Missouri, where Paul continued pastorate responsibilities for a brief period there. Following their time in West Plains, they moved to Independence, Missouri, where the family resided for a very long time together and Paul pastored for 25 years. After his 25 years of pastoral duty to Church of God (Anderson) in Independence, Paul retired but was far from complete in his service. Following retirement, Paul went on to accept pastorate responsibilities at Sugar Creek Church of God (Anderson). He faithfully served at Sugar Creek for another 15 years. Sugar Creek, as an added bonus, was closer to their home than the Independence Church of God (Anderson) location was.

Altogether, Paul served in his pastoral role for total of 46 years! For the entire breadth of Paul’s ministry, Edna Mae was right there in support and care in any way she could be to her husband, family, friends, and church community. Paul and Edna Mae were the textbook definition of the word “team.”

Throughout the many years and places explored together, Edna Mae faithfully and lovingly worked alongside Paul. She led women’s ministries, taught Sunday School, typed up the sermon text for the upcoming services, executed mimeograph duties, built the various print materials for services and fulfilled countless responsibilities to support Paul and her Church of God (Anderson) congregation.

Edna Mae and Paul were blessed with four children – Elaine, Tom, Janelle, and J. Beth.

Beyond Edna Mae’s responsibilities as a mother, church mother, and homemaker, Edna Mae, for a period, provided home child care for children outside of her own family.

Edna Mae was a gifted seamstress and for a time, for extra family income, she prepared custom draperies for the local furniture store. She constructed the wedding dress for her daughter Beth. Two of Edna Mae’s grandsons, Caleb and Will, were each born seven weeks prematurely. With select templates from Cabbage Patch Doll garment patterns, Edna Mae lovingly crafted custom clothing for these very little additions to the family.

Edna Mae, in addition to her numerous strengths and talents, was also an amazing cook. Many friends and family have mentioned that Edna Mae showed her love to her family, her church community and her fellow human beings through her cooking. Within her family and church circle, Edna Mae’s cooking was legendary. She was well known for her apple dumplings; people would fight over them – resulting in more than one spiritual dilemma. Many lament that with Edna Mae's passing, they will never enjoy her delicious dinner rolls ever again! Edna Mae had a beloved neighbor who was disabled and convalescing and she delivered food to her treasured friend daily.

Another often recounted food related family memory was the time they attended a Kansas City Royals Baseball game together. While the rest of the attendees were limited to standard stadium fare, Edna Mae treated her family to a full course plated dinner, individually, caringly, foiled, and pulled from a big picnic basket including chicken, broccoli casserole and a dessert!

By order of importance, if Edna Mae was asked to list her primary life priorities, her response would be “faith, family, friendship, and food.”

This year, as illustrated by the SantaCaliGon website, the 46th Annual SantaCaliGon Days Festival was held in Independence, Missouri, and commemorated the origin of the Santa Fe, California, and Oregon trails during the country’s great westward expansion in the 1800's by adventurous pioneers. More than 300,000 festival-goers spent Labor Day weekend at the region’s oldest and largest 4-day festival.

Edna Mae’s surviving family members celebrate the fact that Edna Mae and Paul spent a significant portion of life of their lives in Independence, MO, the right side of two symbolic bookends. Edna Mae lived her final five years in Oregon, the left side and western bookend of the Oregon Trail pathway. Independence, Oregon was in fact named after its namesake city in Missouri and origin of the Oregon Trail.

Edna Mae was predeceased by her parents, Ralph Wellington and Alice Martha (Teeters) Thomas; her husband, Paul Avon Freeland; her siblings: Gladys Hawkins(Chester), Delbert Thomas (Dorothy),George Thomas (Kathryn), Robert Thomas, Donald Thomas, Carl William Thomas, Barbara Nelle Thomas; grandsons Ryan Tomas Irwin, Gabriel Michael Paul Hatch; extended family: four brothers-in-law; a sister-in-law; and three nieces.

Edna Mae is survived by a sister Carolyn "Sue" Bernard of Raytown, Missouri; her children: Elaine (Galen), Tom Freeland (Laurie) of Blue Springs, Missouri; Janelle (Freeland) Irwin (Tim) of Aloha, Oregon, J. Beth Hatch (John) of Independence, Missouri; grandchildren: Mandy Shewmaker (Kevin) of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Drew Freeland of Kansas City, Missouri, Ben Irwin (Lauren) of Portland, Oregon, Will Irwin and (Lissa) Jett of Aloha, Oregon, and other loving grandchildren; and several loving great grandchildren.

Edna Mae was an aunt, great aunt, and great-great aunt to many nieces and nephews. She was a beloved sister-in-law to many.

A Memorial Service will be held Saturday, December 8, 2018, 11am, at Aloha Church of God, 18380 SW Kinnaman Rd, Beaverton, OR 97078, followed by lunch in the church fellowship hall. Phone: (503) 649-5678

A Funeral Service will take place the following week at Newcomers Noland Road Chapel, 509 S Noland Rd, Independence, Missouri, Phone: (816) 252-8900, on Sunday December 16, 2018, at 2pm.

Visitation for the public will be held at Newcomers Chapel one hour prior to the Funeral Service at 1pm.

Edna Mae will be privately entombed at Mount Moriah Cemetery South, Kansas City, MO.

Remembrances may be made to Children of Promise, a child sponsorship program of children served by the ministries of the Church of God. www.echildrenofpromise.org

Remembrances may also be made to Aloha Church of God. alohacog.org

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