Edwina Froehlich

Edwina Froehlich of Inverness A memorial service for Edwina Freohlich (nee Hearn), 93, formerly of Franklin Park, will be from 1 to 5 p.m. with speakers and a presentation at 3 p.m. Saturday, July 12, at Elk Grove High School, 500 W. Elk Grove Blvd., Elk Grove Village. Edwina Froehlich, co-founder of La Leche League International and co-author of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, which has over 2 million copies in print, died on Sunday, June 8, 2008, at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, after suffering a stroke on May 25, 2008. In 1956, Edwina Froehlich and six other women met in Franklin Park to share information on how to successfully breastfeed their babies. The group quickly attracted the attention of other women and became an organization called La Leche League. From these roots grew La Leche League International, a breastfeeding support not-for-profit organization, which has groups in every U.S. state and in 67 other countries. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding has been translated into eight languages and Braille. Edwina Froehlich was a member of the board of directors of La Leche League, and at various times served as secretary, treasurer and vice chairman of that group. She also worked at La Leche League International as executive secretary from 1956 until her retirement in 1983. Edwina, according to her co-founders, had an indomitable spirit. When difficulties stood in the way of La Leche League she said, "We are not going to let this kind of thing get in the way. This is a problem that we are going to have to live through, and work through, and resolve, so that we can continue to do what we originally set out to do-help mothers successfully breastfeed their babies." Born Edwina Hearn on Jan. 5, 1915, in Bronx, New York, she attended Mundelein College in Chicago, later married John Francis Froehlich and had three children. Edwina is survived by her sons, Paul (Marilyn) Froehlich, David (Sharon) Froehlich and Peter (Paula) Froehlich; Her sister, Pauline, age 96; and nine grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, to whom she was married in 1948 and who passed away in 1997.