- Date Of Birth: December 5, 1926
- Date Of Death: February 10, 2021
- State: Illinois
Dr. Mary Ella Works Freiburg, 94, passed away peacefully on February 10, 2021 in Springfield, Illinois. She was born on December 5, 1926 in Humboldt, Kansas to Clark and Leota Works.
Mary is survived by four children, Ann (Gil) Opferman of Cantrall, IL, Stuart (Emie) Freiburg of West Chicago, IL, Jeanne Freiburg (Matt Bogenschultz) of St. Paul, MN, and Jane (Jim) Nickerson of Olney, MD; nine grandchildren, Sara Artega, Nathaniel Opferman, Eli Freiburg, Emily Opferman, Mary Ellen Nickerson, Molly Nickerson, Will Bogenschultz, Mary Freiburg, and Laura Freiburg; and two great grandchildren, Alex and Isabella Artega. She was preceded in death by her three brothers, Bruce Works (Marcia) of Topeka, KS, Paul Works (Barbara) of Sedgwick, KS, and Clark Works, Jr. of Humboldt, KS.
Dr. Mary Freiburg was a scientist, educator, professor emerita, former chair of the Biology Department at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, and mentor to generations of MacMurray students. She was raised to be a strong, independent woman which came in handy when she entered the male dominated world of biological science. Mary did it with style and passion; wearing pearls while dissecting cat cadavers and always enthusiastic about new ideas and observations of the natural world. Mary attended the University of Kansas where she met the love of her life, Richard Freiburg, who was working on his Master’s Degree after serving in the US Navy during WWII. They were married on Nov. 20, 1950, in Humboldt, KS. In 1957, Richard started teaching at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL. Mary started teaching part-time at MacMurray while caring for four children and working on her Ph.D. in her spare time. Over the years the Drs. Freiburg became legendary, known lovingly to their students as “Ma & Pa Freiburg”. Mom loved to teach anatomy and physiology, introductory biology, and many other fun courses. Scores of elementary education teachers remember taking her “kiddie bio” class, where they learned how to impart a love for biology to young learners. Mom also loved keeping a saltwater aquarium (at school) that was filled with sea anemones and starfish she had (legally) collected in Oregon. Her Ph.D. dissertation work involved the respiration of freshwater snails and involved multiple 24-hour snail observation stints in a dark closet. Mary and Richard loved teaching and took great pride in the accomplishments of their students, many of whom became doctors, vets, dentists, nurses, and science teachers. An annual high point of their retired years was going to Homecoming events at MacMurray when they had the opportunity to catch up with their former students and other faculty. They both loved MacMurray College dearly.
Mary and Richard traveled often before and after they retired. Mary was proud that they had taken 25 trips overseas, many including stops in London, their favorite city to visit. During their travels, Mary and Richard furthered their own education with summer research projects involving Przewalski’s horses in the Netherlands, turtles and other animals in the Galapagos Islands, birds of the Australian rain forest, monkeys in Africa, and shore birds in western Scotland.
After retiring, Mary loved to work with gourds and used them to make beautiful artwork. Her friends in the Illinois Gourd Society were a large part of her social life and she visited meetings and classes throughout the Midwest related to their shared interests.
Mary was an amazing, resilient person, who loved learning and knew how to make others feel appreciated. Due to COVID, she had been locked down at her Sr. Residence for the last year. She kept busy reading books about almost any topic and always wanted to keep up with what everyone in the family was doing. We talked often about movies, politics, gourds, her childhood in Kansas, books, and many other topics. She was a lifelong Democrat and was thrilled to see President Biden sworn in on January 20. She told us one of her goals was to live long enough to see Donald Trump voted out of office! Mary was an inspiration and will be sorely missed.
