ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Sister Mary Ellen Freeman, CHM, 73, died at Alexian Brothers Hospice Residence in Elk Grove Village on Dec. 24.
Mary Ellen Freeman was born Aug. 16, 1943, in Chicago to John Charles and Ellen (Mench) Freeman. She entered the Congregation of the Humility of Mary on Sept. 8, 1962, and professed vows in 1965.
She earned an AA degree from Ottumwa Heights College in Ottumwa and a BA in elementary education from Marycrest College in Davenport and continued her education with post-graduate studies.
Initially, Sr. Freeman taught in Iowa schools: Lourdes Memorial in Bettendorf, St. Anthony in Des Moines, St. Mary in Marshalltown and St. Joseph in Bellevue. She also taught at St. Louis the King in Glendale, Ariz., and St. Anne in East Moline, Ill. For the past 21 years of her professional life, Sr. Freeman taught second grade at St. Domitilla School in Hillside, Ill., and resided in Schaumburg, Ill.
Sr. Freeman was very involved in her parish and Humility of Mary Housing at Christmas time. Since the founding of HMHI in 1990, she worked with St. Domitilla School and parish to gather items for the Humility of Mary families in Davenport. By the time her initiative ended, it had become necessary to send a truck to Hillside to retrieve the Christmas gifts.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated Dec. 30 at the Humility of Mary Center in Davenport with burial at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Davenport. Memorials may be made to the Congregation of the Humility of Mary.
