Joanna Freeman

JONESBORO - Joanna Lee Cart Freeman, age 85, of Jonesboro, passed from this life on Feb. 28, 2025. Born on November 21, 1939, in Caruthersville, Mo., to the late Frances Marie Wright and Raymond Eugene Cart, Joanna grew up in Jonesboro, where she attended school until moving to Weiner in 1953. She graduated from Weiner High School in 1957.

She met the love of her life, Bill Freeman, at age 13. When Bill joined the U.S. Navy, Joanna moved to Memphis, where she worked at Lowenstein's Department Store. The following year on June 15, 1958, Bill and Joanna were married. They moved to Hawaii, where Bill was stationed at Pearl Harbor, and were present on August 21, 1959, when Hawaii became the 50th State of the Union. At the end of Bill's tour of duty in 1960, the couple returned to Freeman Farms, outside of Weiner, where Bill began farming with his father.

Joanna was active on the farm for many years as a devoted wife, mother, homemaker, and occasional farmhand/truck driver, raising vegetable gardens, driving children to school over rough gravel roads, and staying active in her free time with civic and countless other activities, including deaconess of the Weiner First Christian Church. In 1995, as Bill began his retirement from farming, they moved to Jonesboro, where they remained. She had a strong sense of adventure, whether it was searching for an antique item at an out-of-the-way store or taking her children and grandchildren on sightseeing trips. She loved to tell stories and had a wonderful sense of humor. She loved her family, her friends (many of whom were lifelong), and her dogs (especially the retrievers) and always sought the good in everyone she met.

In 1976, Joanna was one of several local residents who organized a rice tasting and rice farming exhibition in honor of the U.S. Bicentennial Commemoration. Its success inspired residents in and around Weiner to hold a two-day festival. The following year, the Arkansas Rice Festival Board was formed, and Joanna was appointed president of the Rice Festival Committee, a position she held for 15 years. As one of the original "Rice Festival Ladies," Joanna worked for over 20 years promoting rice in conjunction with the festival and traveling throughout the country, serving rice dishes at the Cherry Blossom Festival and to U.S. Senators and Representatives in Washington D.C.; at the commissioning of the USS Arkansas (CGN-41) at Virginia Beach; at the Louisiana Rice Festival in New Orleans, La.; and dozens of other state and national events, including meeting President Jimmy Carter. She also served on the "Great River Road" Commission, and the Board of Poinsett County Farm Bureau. In recent years she became interested in genealogy and joined the Jonesboro Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) based upon her direct descendant from three Revolutionary War ancestors. She later proved a fourth, Phillip Fryman, who had not been previously recognized by DAR.

She was preceded in death by her sister, Wanda Lou Cart, and her stepbrother, John Raymond Rutledge.

She is survived by her husband, William Virgil "Bill" Freeman, Jr.; her children, Carter Lee Freeman, and Rachel Marie Freeman Morgan; her grandchildren, Connor Freeman, Mallory Aleman, Shayde Freeman, and Sunnye Jo Freeman; her great-grandchildren, Rhynne Garrison, and Phoenix Freeman; her sister, Barbara Jeanne Cart; and two stepbrothers, Mike and Joe Guziewicz.

Visitation will be held on Wednesday, March 5, at Gregg-Langford-Bookout Funeral Home, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. The service, officiated by Clayton Homewood, will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the Funeral Home, followed by a private burial in Jonesboro Memorial Park Cemetery.

Serving as active pallbearers are Connor Freeman, Shayde Freeman, Kenneth Duane Hight, and Jonathan McCarver.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the charity of your choice.

Online registry: www. gregglangfordbookoutfh.com