Virginia Dorothy Freal

Virginia Dorothy (Hennessy) Freal, daughter of John Francis Hennessy and Celina Longtin was born July 2, 1915 in Duluth, Minnesota. She died November 16, 2013. Her older sister Evelyn Hennessy and younger sister Lorraine Hennessy McCartin predeceased her. She was married to Harris Freal on October 2, 1943. He predeceased her in 1975. She is survived by her five children, John Freal (Marilyn), Mary Freal (Art Saulness), Pat Freal (Debi), Mike Freal (Dana Bollinger), and Tom Freal; six grandchildren; and six (soon to be eight) great grandchildren. Growing up in Duluth she found the first two loves of her life, the world of nature in the form of the woods that grew next to her house and stretched into Canada, and the library where she began to work at age 12. She grew up in a musical family and learned to play the piano. She played to accompany her older sister's dance classes, her father's violin, and the voices of her mother and younger sister as well as others in the local community. She graduated from St. Scholastica's College in Duluth and obtained a master's degree in library science from the University of Southern California. She worked at libraries in Hollywood, California, Omaha, Nebraska, and Havana, Cuba before becoming the post librarian at Fort Riley, Kansas. There, as one of five women on an army post of 50,000 men, she ran the library, supervised an assistant who would go on to become librarian of the Library of Congress, befriended Japanese American interns who worked at menial tasks around the post, and met her husband, Harris Freal. After Harris went overseas with the army, Virginia moved to the Northwest to be near her parents. She continued to work in libraries. In 1945, she climbed Mt. Pilchuck on her 30th birthday. After Harris returned from the war in Europe, they located in Everett, Washington to start and raise their family. In 1950, the family moved to Snohomish, WA where Harris worked for a branch of Everett First National Bank. In 1961, she became the librarian at Snohomish High School where she worked until her retirement in 1982. In retirement Virginia pursued her interests in travel, photography, quilting, playing the piano, attending concerts, reading, and writing. She continued to enjoy visits with her children and grandchildren. She was loved by all who knew her. She never had a harsh word for anyone. Her independent spirit, creativity, joy, humor and great kindness will be missed. Special thanks to Dr. Budge Smith and associates, the staff at Washington Oakes, and Providence Medical Center. A funeral mass will be at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 21 at Immaculate Conception Church, and a burial service at GAR Cemetery in Snohomish will follow. In lieu of flowers donations can be sent to Catholic Relief Services.