Joan Eleanor Freeman

Joan Eleanor Freeman. February 26, 1927 – May 14, 2024. Age 97. Joan grew up in a close-knit family in the small towns of Delano and Buffalo, Minnesota with her parents Florence and Raymond Yantes, and her siblings Joe and Vivian.

She met Peter, her husband of 74 years, during her freshman year at Winona State College and they were married on June 9, 1948. She cherished Peter; she was the best mother to Douglas Freeman, Gary (Roni) Freeman, and Deanna (Tom) Quinn; loving grandmother to Claire, John, Joseph, Michael, Tommy, and Dean; and great grandmother to Thomas, Mairead, and Imogen. She was a beloved aunt of her Yantes and Freeman nieces and nephews.

While family was her center, she had many other interests. Music (she sang with the Sweet Adeline's Twin Cities Chapter for 25 years). Reading (often staying up until the wee hours to finish a book). Golf (she once won the Hastings Country Club women's championship). Nature, flowers, and plants (she once owned and ran a plant shop). Sports (she followed the Wild, the Vikings, the Timberwolves, and pro golf and she and Peter often attended women's collegiate volleyball games while snowbirding in Tucson). She followed world events, and lamented over climate change and the suffering of marginalized people everywhere.

She had a great sense of humor, made her friends and family feel special with her boisterous greetings and big smile. She and Peter would sing happy birthday on a phone call every year to each of their children and grandchildren. And she was a hard worker—heard to say out loud to herself when she was 97 years old, “Come on Joan, get productive.”

She will be missed but will remain an inspiration to those who knew her.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Friday, June 7, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. at Starkson Family Life Celebration Chapel, 3075 Vermillion Street, Hastings with a visitation one hour prior to the time of the service. Interment to follow at Lakeside Cemetery, Hastings.

Starkson Family Life Celebration Chapel is handling arrangements.

Joan's Visitation Playlist by Starkson Family LCC