Geneva Freeman, 98
Services for Geneva Ethyl Thornton Freeman, 98, Springfield, were held Oct. 19, 2024, at Klingner-Cope at White Chapel in Springfield. Graveside services were held at White Chapel Cemetery with Johnny Phifer presiding over the service.
She died peacefully in her sleep Oct. 9, at Mission Ridge Assisted Living.
Geneva was born on Nov. 22, 1925, in Ozark County at Dora. Her parents are Bert D. Thornton and Ethyl Loretta Harris Thornton.
Geneva was raised on a farm in Ozark County, and there was always work to be done. As soon as she was physically able, she worked on the farm. Her main jobs were plowing for the garden, planting and harvesting. Her younger brother would guide the mule pulling the plow so the rows would be straight, and she guided the plow. Geneva was a small girl, but very strong. The family raised all their vegetables and fruit for the year, canning them in gallon jars because they had a large family.
She loved school and worked extra hard for perfect attendance because students got a prize for that, and prizes were hard to come by for poor country girls. She loved milking the cows, if the cows kept their tails out of her face. She disliked picking blackberries. They always had a hot meal for breakfast and lunch, but there was no more heat in the house after lunch. Cold milk and cornbread was for supper. Geneva said “We were poor, but never went hungry.”
Geneva married Manuel Freeman on Feb. 26, 1943, in West Plains. Manuel was in the Army and had a two-day leave. They spent one night together and off to WWII he went, driving his tank up Utah Beach on D Day. They didn’t see each other for two and a half years. In her memoirs, she said God showed her in a dream Manuel going off to war and coming home from war. She held tight to that promise.
Geneva graduated from Dora High School and taught in a one-room schoolhouse teaching all eight grades in 1943-44. She then moved to Springfield and went one semester at State Teachers College (MSU). Her parents and siblings followed her to Springfield where her parents managed a cafe on Boonville Street where she worked for a while. From January 1945 until the end of World War II, Geneva was a “Rosie the Riveter” at Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas. She was a counter-sinker, and she ran a dimple machine and put cotter keys in the wing flaps of planes. She was a stay-at-home mom while her children were young. In 1963, she went to work for the Springfield School Food Service, retiring as the manager of the Parkview High School Cafeteria in 1987.
Geneva’s hobbies were quilting, knitting, crocheting and sewing. Manuel and Geneva traveled a lot after their retirement visiting many national parks and family.
Geneva gave her life to Christ at the age of 15 in a Brush Arbor Revival at Needmore, Missouri, and later rededicated her life to God in August of 1949. She served her church diligently as a Sunday School teacher in the nursery, singing in the choir, hosting small groups in her home and wherever else she was needed.
Geneva wrote in her memoirs, “I want my epitaph to read: Geneva was never bashful. She was an optimistic soul. She never met a stranger and was outgoing. She loved being with people. Geneva was a Christian but not religious. Loved her husband. She raised four great kids.”
Geneva is survived by her children: Ron Freeman of Kimberling City, Don Freeman and Darlene, Connie Ghan and Ron, of Springfield, and Tom Freeman and Patricia of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; 11 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren and seven great-great grandchildren.
She is also survived by a sister-in-law, Minnie Humphries; brothers-in-law Bill Huitt and Kenneth Tummons; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, other family members and dear friends.
Geneva had this note in her Bible: “You and God are a majority in any circumstance.” She believed it. She lived it.
Geneva was preceded in death by her husband Manuel; her parents Bert D. Thornton and Ethyl Loretta Harris Thornton; grandson Scott Freeman; daughter-in-law Terry Dishman; five siblings: Eva Compton-Blum, B. D. Thornton, Freda Carter-Maples, Sarah Huitt and Joyce Tummons, sisters-in-law Lillie Williams and Norma Thornton; brothers-in-law Jerry Humphries, J. E. Williams, Ray Carter, Lee Roy Maples, Richard Compton and Robert Blum.
Geneva's family is especially thankful to Mission Ridge Assisted Living and Compassus Hospice for their wonderful care of Geneva.
In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to Restoration Church, 910 W. Battlefield, Springfield.