Rosemary Freitag

Rosemary Louise Freitag was born in  Miller, SD May 17, 1927 to Dr. Robert Glennon and Irene Hatch Glennon. She graduated from Miller High School and then attended the College of St. Catherine College in St. Paul, MN where she graduated with a nursing degree. She married Dr. Phillip Freitag in November 1949, and they moved to Madison in 1950. Before moving to Madison, Rosemary was a nurse at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls.

Rosemary’s most cherished times were spent near the water. Her childhood included summers at the Hatch family home in Battle Lake, MN. Those summers were filled with sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and a bevy of family dogs and cats. Rosemary and Phil built a cabin at Lake Madison in 1963, and their family enjoyed decades of swimming, waterskiing, and quiet evenings appreciating the Lake’s beauty from the cabin’s screened porch. Highlights of every summer included Fourth of July barbeques, bonfires, and fireworks. Never one to shrink from a challenge, Rosemary learned to water ski in her 40’s and enjoyed frying up the fish that Phil regularly caught from their lakeside dock. Shutting down the cabin at the end of summer was not an event that Rosemary enjoyed. Her heart was always happiest near the water. In 1982, Rosemary and Phil moved to a year-round home on Lake Madison where they lived until Phil’s death in 2001.

The work that Rosemary and Phil did through Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity (VOSH) missions in Mexico, Nicaragua and Jamaica was an important part of Rosemary’s legacy. Before those trips, the Freitag kitchen was filled with donated eyeglasses being readied for the various missions. During the missions, Rosemary enjoyed finding just the right glasses for each person served by the VOSH volunteers.

Rosemary loved a good game of bridge and never passed up a chocolate bar, a piece of pie or cake, or a good cinnamon role. When Thanksgiving desert time arrived, she would always have one piece of every kind of pie—no matter how many pies there were.

Rosemary’s long life was blessed by four children, Patricia Ericsson (Preston Andrews); Terri  Suhumskie (John), Ginny Freitag (Dale Droge), and Bill Freitag. She was additionally blessed with nine grandchildren: Abby, Adam, Seth, and Katie Ericsson; Ben Suhumskie and Megan Suhumskie Daum; Jarrell and Julian Freitag, and Simone Droge.  Her 14 great-grandchildren, Leila, Maggie, Fletcher, Sam, Oscar, Henri, Wilma, Rosie, Vigo, Bijou, Kaden, Uma, Sophie, and Capriantha were a source of much joy.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Phil and her grandson, Julian.

At Rosemary’s request there will be no funeral service. Those wishing to make a memorial should donate in Rosemary’s name to their favorite charity and have an extra piece of pie at their next holiday celebration.

Kinzley Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.