- Date Of Birth: September 8, 1951
- Date Of Death: July 10, 2015
- State: Indiana
Marie L. Freeman, 63, of Elkhart, passed away peacefully following an extended illness at 9:30 a.m. Friday, July 10, at Riverside Village Nursing Facility in Elkhart with her family at her side.
She was born Sept. 8, 1951, in Menomonie, Wis., to the late Donald F. Sr. and LaVonne (Crandall) Schwartz.
Surviving are her daughters, Tracy (Matt “Just Matt” Washington Jr.) Freeman and Angela (Maurice Johnson Sr.) Freeman, both of Elkhart, Stephanie Freeman of Lynwood, Calif., and Daneida (Michael) Dooley of Indianapolis; brothers Ben (Sue) Schwartz and Jeff (Karla) Schwartz, both of Elkhart; and grandchildren Chad Jr. (Markisha) Suggs, Ar’elle Suggs and Alexus Bryant. Other grandchildren include Natalie, John “Junior,” Aaron, Alejandra and Gene II. Great-grandchildren include Christopher, Kamari and Aniya, and one more on the way!
Two brothers preceded her in death.
Marie was a fixture at Oakland Lanes of Elkhart for over 30 years. She absolutely loved anything that had to do with bowling, and did everything at the lanes from selling concessions to teaching and coaching bowling teams and to running the youth bowling program. Needless to say, she was also an accomplished bowler.
She worked over 20 years for local 7-Eleven convenience store franchises, retiring in 2010 from the Nappanee Street 7-Eleve. Marie will be best remembered as a master of her own destiny; she lived and died on her own terms and leaves behind a legacy of inner strength and dry humor.
