Eileen Marie Fredendall

Eileen M. Fredendall (nee Roberts) passed away July 26, 2023, at the age of 98 from progressive Alzheimer's disease. Eileen was born on January 2, 1925 to Victor Joseph and Martha Angela (McCarron) Roberts in Port Huron, Michigan. She grew up in a loving family with three sisters and a brother in Port Huron, Michigan. She was courted by the man who would become her husband while she was a Nurse Cadet at St. Joseph School of Nursing in Mt. Clemens during WWII. She married Lawrence Dean Fredendall on May 14, 1947. Eileen and Dean shared 73 years of loving marriage until his death September 21, 2020.
The second of five siblings, Eileen was born on Gillette Street in Port Huron and her family moved to a farm on North River Road in Fort Gratiot a few years after the birth of her youngest sister Nora Jean. While the girls and their young brother Richard enjoyed the rural life, it was a long trip into town for school at St. Stephens so about 1939 they moved to 1214 Kearney St., Port Huron where her parents, Joe and Mattie, lived until they died.
Eileen and her sisters were close, and the bond was probably even tighter as the sisters helped raise Nora Jean who had Downs Syndrome. This included accompanying Nora to St. Mary of Providence, a residential school for the mentally handicapped on the west side of Chicago, as young teenagers. Eileen and Mickey developed a tight knit group of friends from their neighborhood and from school that they remained close with throughout adulthood. After graduating from St. Stephens High School in 1942, Eileen worked at Michigan Bell Telephone Company until she enrolled as a student at St. Joseph School of Nursing in Mt. Clemens as a member of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corp in 1943. She graduated as a Registered Nurse on September 29, 1946, and soon began working in Port Huron. She was proud of her nursing diploma and worked on and off at Port Huron area hospitals until retirement as an RN at Port Huron Hospital.
Eileen met her future husband, "Dean, the boy from Iowa," at a roller-skating rink on July 25, 1943. They fell in love at first sight, dated, and wrote letters throughout her nurses' training and his deployment in the U.S. Army Air Force in Europe. Dean arrived stateside from the war in early January 1946 and proposed with a ring on February 8. Eileen married the love of her life on Wednesday, May 14, 1947, in St. Stephens Church, carrying a bridal bouquet consisting of her favorite flowers: lily of the valley & purple violets. Dean picked flowers for her frequently from the gardens she continued to tend to show his love for her.
Eileen felt that mothering her kids was her primary job. One legacy she gave all the children was to ensure that they could cook, often telling the boys that "If you can cook dinner with dessert, it will make your future wife very happy." Dessert was her preferred choice to take to potlucks too. An accomplished pie maker, her desserts were always welcomed and devoured quickly. Date layers were her specialty though. Guests were offered a treat with tea at the kitchen table and Eileen would always join them.
"Would you like some ice cream?" was heard frequently at her house. Her children were not offered ice cream before lunch, but most of the grandchildren experienced ice cream on waffles for breakfast at sleepovers!
Eileen liked to entertain, play cards with her friends, and gather to chat. She arranged gatherings for the holidays and the many family birthdays occurring in such a large family. People would gather around a crowded dining table to celebrate while she would take photos and movies to remember the event. Eileen was the family archivist, saving heirloom treasures from Dean's roots in Iowa and from the extended Roberts and McCarron families. She created many memory albums with multiple notes about relationships and events. After her children left home, Eileen started painting ceramics, watercolors, and acrylics. She also took pottery and creative writing classes, authoring stories about and for her family.
The Catholic faith was a central part of her life, and she would attend mass daily when possible. Eileen believed deeply in the power of prayer. For many years, the family said the rosary together after dinner. "The family that prays together, stays together," was her faith foundation. She also had a special devotion to St Gerard, the patron saint of mothers, whom she was introduced to following the loss of her infant son Eric.
Eileen's mother Mattie provided an example for volunteering and Eileen absorbed that ethic, along with her Catholic faith. The ARC (formerly the Association for Retarded Children) was especially near to her heart and both she and Dean were involved in the formation of the chapter in St. Clair County. They were both active in various charities, especially St. Mary Catholic Church and the St. Vincent dePaul Society.
Eileen put her faith into action by fostering and taking many children into her home over the years. As a young couple with two children, Eileen and Dean fostered Eileen's young cousin, Robert James, for several years. In later years they took in others, from middle school to college age, to help them get started in life. Chris Berberian came into their home in the early 1980's and they were proud to refer to him as their youngest son.
She is survived by her children Lawrence Dean (Elaine) Fredendall II, Duane Martin (Sam) Fredendall, Marie Eileen (Daniel) Neaton, Daniel Gerard (Martha Foley) Fredendall, David Gerard (Sue) Fredendall, Dominic Roberts (Suzanne) Fredendall, Martha Mary Fredendall, Donald Ross Gerard Fredendall, Mary Frances (David) Shoudy, and Christopher Todd (Michelle) Berberian.
In addition to her husband Lawrence, she was preceded in death by one infant child, Eric Joseph Fredendall, granddaughter, Maylissa Fredendall, daughter-in-law Ruthie (Donald) Fredendall, her parents, Martha "Mattie" and VJ Roberts, sisters Suzanne Campbell Morash, Mickie "Nyla" Grace, Nora Jean Roberts, and brother Richard Roberts. She is also preceded in death by her in-laws Matilda "Tillie" and Donald Fredendall, Verdun (Fritz) and Katie Fredendall, Esther and Gerald Revoir, Donald and Jane Fredendall, Joyce and James Emlaw, Leroy and Ardiste (Ardy) Fredendall, Gayle Fredendall, Elton Campbell, Paul Morash, and Mary Roberts.
She is also survived by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of whom she loved and remembered with cards, short personal notes, and often a dollar bill on special days. Eileen enjoyed spending time with her grandchildren and children. She organized tea parties full of small sweets, china cups, cucumber sandwiches, and pretty gowns. Frequent sleepovers and fun outings abounded. Of course, there was always the offer of sweets (brownies if possible) and ice cream when they visited.
Surviving grandchildren include: Susan Fredendall, Joseph (Savannah) Fredendall, Erick (Liz) Fredendall, Rachel (Holden) Skuca, Daniel J. Fredendall, Cullen (Jen) Neaton, Kevin (Alia) Neaton, Katie (David) McKinnon, Eileen T. Fredendall, Michael Fredendall, Mary Alice Fredendall, Danielle (Paul) Smith, Aaron Fredendall, Josh Lonczkowski, Jesse (Mandy) Schmelter, Myriah (Nick) Pickett, Teka Israel, Wyatt (Jane) Israel, Corey (Jeremy) Bricker, Cassie (Tom) Kelly, Christine (Matthew) Gordon, Donald J. (Kathleen) Fredendall, Joshua (Lakala Brown) Shoudy, Elizabeth (Kara Davies) Shoudy, Jacob (Anne) Shoudy, Laura Shoudy, Rachel Shoudy, Tyler Berberian and Ian Berberian.
Great-grandchildren are: Connor, Lily, and Rose Neaton; Brandon, Jodie, Shea, and Frances (Frankie) McKinnon; Sean Fredendall; Asher Smith; Douglas Basnaw; Alex and Ryleigh Chubb; Christopher and Zachary Schmelter; Katelyn and Gabriella Castillo; Aedan and Riley Bricker; Patrick, Samuel, Clare, and Nora Kelly; Roselyn and Anthony Sarb; Alexander Brown; Kaden, Nikolai and Lilyca Shoudy.
She is also survived by many beloved nieces, nephews, and a few cousins.
In her later years, she suffered from Alzheimer's disease, but she retained her social skills, her kindness, and her interest in others. She welcomed visitors. Sometimes during this period, she would have moments of clarity to curse the disease, or to engage in meaningful conversation with her family and visitors.
Eileen was fortunate to have numerous wonderful caregivers in the last years of her life, many of whom she grew to know and love. The family appreciates everyone who loved and cared for Eileen during her final stage of life.
An avid reader, she would copy meaningful sentences or poems onto cards that she filed away or shared with the family. Sometimes she would modify them, such as this note to her husband Dean:
Friends Through the Years
One of the good things
About getting older
Is that eventually we learn
What is important
And brightens our lives
And what is of little concern
And one of the things
That we learn through the years
That has always been
Found to be true
Is how much it means
To have a close friend
Who's a wonderful person
Like you --- Lawrence Dean Fredendall
(Remembered in Love & Prayer, Eileen M. Fredendall)
As gifts to her children, she would often make copies of her favorite recipes (10 copies each written by hand onto 3X5 index cards). One legendary recipe is for date layers. This recipe will remain a closely guarded family secret... not!
A gathering and viewing will be held on Wednesday, August 2, 2023, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Grace Memorial-Smith Chapel, 1525 Hancock Street, Port Huron, MI 48060. The Rosary will be recited at 7:00 pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, August 3, 2023, at 11:00 am at St. Mary Catholic Church, 1505 Ballentine Street, Port Huron, MI. Visitation will begin at 10:00 am. Interment will take place at Mt. Hope Cemetery following cremation.
Memorials are suggested to one of the following charities:
the Blue Water Community Food Depot (care of St. Mary Catholic Parish) https://www.facebook.com/bluewatercommunityfooddepot/
the Arc of St. Clair County (www.thearcscc.org/donate),
the St. Vincent de Paul Conference of St. Mary Parish (care of St. Mary Catholic Parish) https://www.stmaryporthuron.com/food-depot,
or the SC4-Eileen M. & Lawrence D. Fredendall Scholarship Fund: (https://mcfscc.iphiview.com/mcfscc/OnlineDonation/tabid/542/dispatch/contribution_id$125457_hash$c6aa8eaa9ec98f789eb7759ba8c27b8ec4122f3a/Default.aspx)
For more information, gracemem.com https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/FQQFJ44WMHN567Z2