Joan Ilene Freese

Joan Ilene Freese, 86, of Silvis, IL, died Tuesday, September 20, 2016, at Illini Restorative Care, Silvis, IL.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, September 26, 2016, at Calvary Lutheran Church, 2900 Avenue of the Cities, Moline.  Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, September 25, 2016, at Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., 6601 38th Avenue, Moline.  Burial will be at National Cemetery at the Rock Island Arsenal.  Memorials may be made to Calvary Lutheran Church.

Joan was born on July 22, 1930, in Moline, IL, the daughter of Harold and Ilene Bentley.

She graduated from Rock Island High School in 1948 and married Clarence F. Freese on June 18, 1949, in Rock Island, IL.  Clarence passed away on February 23, 2000, followed by her mother on June 4, 2000.  Her father passed on April 5, 1954, just weeks before her daughter was born in May.

Joan was an accountant/bookkeeper for the former Augustana Book Concern from 1948 to 1963; was Parish Secretary for Calvary Lutheran, Moline from 1964 to 1972 and at St. John’s Lutheran, Rock Island, from 1972 to 1984.

She was involved in Quad City Music Guild from 1967 till her health began to deteriorate in 2003.  She served as Secretary of the Guild from 1971 till 1994.  Joan worked tirelessly for the Guild in many capacities, worked both on and off stage and sang with the Victorian carolers during the Christmas season.

Joan had been a life-long member of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Rock Island.  When a stroke in 2002 took away her ability to sing, she had just finished her 53rd year in the senior choir.

Joan loved to travel with her husband.  Together they would attend his ship reunions, LST 968 (WWII) and The William R. Rush (destroyer – Korea).  They would also travel with Sunshine Tours.  Later, her daughter became her companion.  Two of Joan’s greatest trips were to Rome, Italy in 1971 as a chaperon with her daughter’s United Township Concert choir and, in 1994, when she and her husband flew on the Concord to England and returned on the Queen Elizabeth II.

Joan will be greatly missed by her daughter and son-in-law, Teresa “Teri” and Dave Griebel; grandsons, Jeremiah “JD” Griebel, and his children, Brianna and Austin, Joshua Griebel and his daughter, Rebecca, Jason and Allie Griebel and their children, Abbygail, Christian, and Eileen; sister-in-law, Sherry Freese; numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Her husband of 50 years, her brothers and sisters-in-law, Richard and Helen Bentley, Gerald “Jerry” and Shirley Bentley, brother-in-law, Donald Freese, her parents, grandparents, and a special cousin, Lorabelle Brisco Tanner, who started her singing at a very young age, preceded her in death.

I personally would like to express my thanks to Illini Restorative Care Center; to the residents and families my mother made friends with; to the countless CNAs, nurses and administrative staff who have helped along the way.  I especially would like to thank the following:  Angie, Pat, Carlene, Trish, Jennifer, and Cindy. I don’t know what I would have done without the family of friends both of us made at IRC during the 12 years my mother spent in your facility.  I would also like to thank Trinity Hospice.

Memories may be shared online by visiting esterdahl.com.