Jean Johnston Freed

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June 26, 2012

Jean Johnston Freed

Anonymous The Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Tue Jun 26, 2012, 05:00 AM EDT

TERRE HAUTE — Jean Johnston Freed passed from this world June 23, 2012, surrounded by her loved ones in the Hospice unit of Union Hospital. She was 86.

Trained as a nurse in Chicago, Jean married Dr. John E. Freed Jr., raised four children and counted as her blessings 11 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Making her home for more than 60 years in the Collett Park neighborhood of Terre Haute, she wove a rich tapestry of friendships, civic activism, support for the arts, extraordinary generosity and gracious hospitality.

Jean Johnston was born July 7, 1925, in Hammond, Ind., to Scottish immigrants Ethel Mae Collins Johnston and James Johnston. She grew up in East Chicago and graduated from Washington High School, where she was named “Miss Washington,” an award to young women who best exemplified scholarship, achievement and character among their senior classmates. Beautiful as well as brainy, Jean worked as a photographer’s model during her nursing studies at Wesley Memorial Hospital in Chicago in the mid-1940s. It was at Wesley that she met Dr. Freed, and they were married July 12, 1947. He preceded her in death in 2006.

After marrying, the Freeds moved to Terre Haute, where John practiced medicine for more than a half-century and Jean made a home that was a magnet for the couple’s many friends and the friends of their three daughters and one son. A superb cook, Jean elevated hosting and entertaining to an art, making each guest feel special but comfortable. Always she found room around her table for “orphans and strays,” especially on holidays, which she believed should never be spent alone. Despite decades of increasingly difficult medical challenges, she continued to host family and friends until just a few weeks before her death. A sign of her curious mind and inclusive spirit was the diverse range of age, vocation and avocation of her guests.

Jean was a member of and served in various leadership capacities over the years in many local organizations. Among them: Tri Kappa, Women’s Department Club, League of Terre Haute, Country Club of Terre Haute, St. Anthony’s Hospital Guild, SAI music society, the Garfield High School Boosters Club and Alpha Phi sorority. She was a Brownie Scout leader, a member of the Swope Art Museum, a longtime supporter of the Terre Haute Symphony and congregant of Centenary United Methodist Church. She deeply loved big band music, watching NCAA basketball, the Colts and pro golf on television, and spending summers at the Freed family vacation house on Lake Michigan.

In addition to her husband and parents, Jean was preceded in death by three sisters and a great-grandchild. She is survived by daughters, Susan Lonergan of Olathe, Kan., Mary Ellen Duvall of Glen Ellyn, Ill., Maggie Freed of Indianapolis; and son, John Freed of Greer, S.C.; her 11 grandchildren are Mike (Cara) Lonergan, Ryan (Katie) Lonergan, Katy Lonergan, Molly Lonergan, Maggie Duvall, Ellie Duvall, Phoebe Duvall, Eric (Perla) Freed, Julie Freed, Scott Freed and Bret Freed; and great-grandchildren are Emily Kate, Anthony, Joseph, Hannah and Quinn Lonergan. Jean also is survived by her sister, Dora Richter; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins; special friends, Lon and Kim McDonald and their family; and Jean’s loyal canine companion, Annie.

Visitation is 4 to 8 p.m., Sunday, July 1, 2012, at Callahan & Hughes Funeral Home, 605 S. 25th St., with funeral services at 10 a.m., Monday, July 2, 2012, at Centenary United Methodist Church, 301 N. 7th St., with the Rev. Jimmy Moore presiding. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the Wabash Valley Community Foundation’s John E. Freed Jr. Scholarship or to a charity of one’s choice.

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