Mary Lou Freland

Mary Lou Freland, 83, of Baxter, died Friday, July 21, 2017, at Accura Healthcare of Baxter. A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, July 25 at the Baxter Congregational United Church of Christ in Baxter. The family will greet friends from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, July 24 at the church. Memorials to Mary Lou’s family can be left at the church during the visitation and service or at the Wallace Family Funeral Home in Newton.

Mary Lou, the daughter of Vern and Lennie Lenora (Koon) Pershall, was born July 25, 1933, in rural Baxter. She lived in rural Baxter her entire life, and graduated from Mingo High School. She was united in marriage with James Freland in 1957. Mary Lou was a housewife and worked on the farm. She enjoyed gardening and canning, playing Scrabble, watching the Iowa Hawkeyes, reading and bird watching. Her greatest joy was spending time with her family. She loved cooking for her family and making sure they always had enough to eat. She was a skilled seamstress who taught her grandchildren how to sew. She also made them all quilts for their high school graduations. She was also a talented cake decorator, presenting her children with beautiful cakes on their birthdays. She enjoyed helping others any chance she could, and will be remembered for joking with others and for her great sense of humor.

Those left to honor Mary Lou’s memory include her children, Debbie (Bob) McCarl of Des Moines, Jeff (Valerie) Freland of Marshalltown, Beth (Mark) McLain of Prior Lake, Minn., and Shelley (Bill) Hiney of Baxter; 15 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; two sisters, Helen Bucklin of Baxter and LaVonne Hunter of Ira; her special niece, Linda Calvin of Baxter; and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, James; daughter, Rhita Haas; two grandsons, Jamie McCarl and Michael Haas; two brothers; and four sisters.