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Established 1948   Freda A. Froyen, 92, of Denison, Texas, left her earthly home on Saturday morning, April 1, 2023 and danced through the gates of heaven to rejoice with loved ones who had gone before her. A Celebration of Life service was held at Trinity Lighthouse Church on Friday morning, April 7, 2023. Interment followed at Cedarlawn Memorial Park, Sherman, Texas. She was born the seventh of 8 siblings in 3P, the suburbs of Bailey, Texas, as Freda A. Hembree on June 13, 1930, daughter of David Crockett "DC" and Katie Lee Hembree. She never liked her given middle name and preferred the name "Freda Jane," unofficially given to her by her longtime friend and former pastor, Bro. Larry Myers. She was preceded in death by her parents; her 7 siblings: Audrey, Pauline, Lucille, Virgiline, Culista, Bill and J.D. "Lefty;" one daughter, Sherry Lynn Mabary; a granddaughter, Shannon DeFrange; and her first husband, J.D. "Jake" Mabary. Freda graduated at the top of her class from McDaniel High School in 1948 and was already a woman of many talents and abilities. If she put her mind to do something, you better believe nothing could stop her. She had a wide range of interests from riding motorcycles and flying airplanes in her younger years, to camping with friends and family. She was an excellent seamstress, making all of her daughters' wedding gowns with the most fantastic of detail given to every stitch and every glued-on pearl. In the late 1960s she opened "Freda's Fabrics" and started sewing for the public until her daughter, Sherry's death in 1972. She managed grocery stores, kept books, worked in construction, remodeled homes, including the design and manual labor work, like taping, bedding, wallpapering, painting, and concrete work. Freda rose to the top of the proverbial Multi-Level Marketing (MLM) ladder with Tri-Chem paints and made her own beautiful show-ready clothes to paint and model at events in London and Hawaii. She enjoyed all kinds of arts and crafts, including canvas painting and pottery. Her green thumb won her Yard of the Week awards in Denison, Texas, and at one time, she had an ivy plants growing from one end of her sun room to the other. Freda was a true Renaissance woman. Freda married J.D. " Jake" Mabary on December 24, 1948, and they raised 4 girls together: Lynda, Sherry, Cynthia and Tammy. Together they managed the Wilburn & Miller Grocery Store in Denison and later managed a salvage grocery store in Whitewright, Texas. They later move on to self-employment adventures like selling Wall's brand jackets, sleeping bags and gun cases at the viaduct in Denison, as well as Trader's Village in Grand Prairie. Then they decided to go into the home remodeling and flipping houses, from which they were finally able to retire and build their retirement home in Kingston, Oklahoma, where they lived until Jake's passing in 1995. After moving back to Denison in 1998, Freda was volunteering as an art teacher for TLC's Vacation Bible School where she met the next love of her life, William "Bill" Froyen. On April 7, 2001, Freda and Bill were married and began a whole new life of adventures together, which included building a purple T-bucket hot rod in their garage and taking it to car shows and going on rod-runs. Several years before her passing, Freda was diagnosed with vascular dementia. While she outlived the expected survival time line for this terrible, incurable disease and it robbed her of many precious memories, it never stole her song, her laugh, or her spark for life. On a good day, she might surprise you with a witty comment that would make you burst out laughing. Those were the good days. Those are the days you hold on to. She still could sing every word of the old hymns and even at the end, would swear she was still driving her own car to church, cooking dinners, and doing all the yard work with a little help from Bill, if needed. Thanks to her loving and committed husband, she was able to stay in her own home until she took her final breath here on earth. As the unforgiving and destructive disease ravaged her brain with more and more confusion about where she was, she begged to go home. God finally answered the cry of her heart, took her by the hand, and led her to her forever home. Freda is survived by her beloved husband, Bill; her children: Lynda Jones, Cynthia Mabary; Tammy Ford and husband, Jason; 9 grandchildren: Tad DeFrange; Dustin Nichols, Tara Kelly; Jake Hayes; Shannon Winkler; Mack Pickle; Maci Legg; Morgan Maloy; and Kailen Ford; 18 great-grandchildren; and 2 great-great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers the family asks that you please make donations to the Dementia Society of America and help find a cure for this devastating disease.   Cedarlawn Cemetery Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson County TXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |