Marita G. (Grubb) Freer

Marita G. Freer was called home by the Lord on September 26, 2016. She was born on April 13, 1938 in Mt. Vernon, Ohio, to parents Miriam F. Grubb and Gordon C. Grubb. She graduated from Mt. Vernon high school in 1956, and left the small town where she grew up alongside her younger brother Teryl, to become the first person in her family to attend college. While studying in a dual degree program at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Marita met and fell in love with John Jay Freer.  In 1961, he graduated from law school and she from nursing school on the same day, and they were married in Mt. Vernon in August. Marita worked for the Visiting Nurse Association of Ohio until the couple were blessed with the birth of their daughter, Miriam Susan in 1964, and son John David three years later. Marita was a full-time mother and homemaker while the young family lived in Cleveland Heights, and later when they moved to Chagrin Falls. She returned to nursing in 1980, working at the Little Sisters of the Poor until she retired at age sixty.  Marita had many passions, but she loved to play and watch tennis maybe most of all. She traveled around the world to be able to see three of the four grand slam tennis tournaments in person. Marita and Jack enjoyed traveling extensively, birding trips brought them to every continent but Antarctica. Favorite spots for family vacations were Cape Cod, and Vermilion, Ohio, where Marita's parents started taking her to enjoy the shores of Lake Erie when she was still a baby. She also loved collecting beautiful things to decorate her family home, at first it was mostly colonial era antiques, and then souvenirs from around the world when she and Jack traveled more in retirement. Her house was always beautiful, Marita took special joy in decorating for the seasons and holidays, especially Christmas. Like the generations before her, Marita had an artistic flair. Her father was an amateur photographer who gave Marita her first camera and she loved taking pictures for the rest of her life. Her creative talents shone through her cooking and baking, both for everyday meals and for special family and holiday parties. She loved going to the movies and she never missed the academy awards, even when she had to get special permission to stay up late from her house mother in college. She knitted afghans for her children and crafted beautiful pieces of needlepoint for her grandchildren. She was an extremely thoughtful gift giver and she never forgot to get sweet cards in the mail for every occasion. She is survived by her loving husband John Jay Freer, grateful daughter Susan (Dean) Vecchio and son David (Seema) Freer, grandchildren Julia and Tyler Hubay, Ruth and Miriam Freer, and brother Teryl (Tancy) Grubb. She was taken from us too soon and will be deeply missed. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the charity of your choice. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but is what is unseen, since what's is seen is temporary but what's is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18.

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