Maryellen Gore Freeland

Funeral services for Maryellen Gore Freeland, 80, Valley Falls, will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mercer Funeral Home in Valley Falls. Burial will be in Valley Falls Cemetery.Mrs. Freeland died Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007, at her home.She was born May 8, 1926, north of Effingham in the Forest Grove Community, the daughter of Fred and Alma Bailey Gore. She graduated from Forest Grove Rural Grade School and attended Atchison County Community High School.Mrs. Freeland was a site director for the American Red Cross Lunch Program in Valley Falls. She and her husband were foster parents to 40 children.She married Frank J. Freeland on March 12, 1945 in Holton. He died Aug. 11, 1990.Survivors include two sons, Dale I. Freeland, Valley Falls, and Fred H. Freeland, Eudora; two daughters, Gladys Bishop, Valley Falls, and Gloria Schrick, Linwood; 12 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.The family suggests memorials to Jefferson County Hospice, sent in care of Mercer Funeral Home, 810 Broadway, Valley Falls 66088.