Freda McCracken

OSKALOOSA ? Freda Marie McCracken, 98, of Oskaloosa, died Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, in the Oskaloosa Care Center in Oskaloosa.

As a final act of generosity, she donated her body to the Des Moines University in Des Moines. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 5, at the Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa with the Rev. Bruce Wittern officiating. Memorials may be made to the Freda McCracken Memorial Fund and will be divided among the Central United Methodist Church, Ainsworth Community Church and the Oskaloosa Public Library. The Bates Funeral Chapel in Oskaloosa is in charge of the arrangements.

Mrs. McCracken was born Dec. 15, 1917, at Kirkville, the daughter of Charles and Nellie (Ross) Akins. She married (Glenn) Willard McCracken on Feb. 15, 1946, at Kirkville.

She graduated from Kirkville High School with the Class of 1935. Following high school, she attended college at William Penn and later Iowa State Teachers College. Upon completing college, she taught country school in Wapello County. After her marriage, she stayed home to care for her family and home. In 1961 the family moved to Ainsworth. When the couple?s three sons were through with high school, she went to work as a secretary at the elementary school in Ainsworth. She was there for 15 years before she retired. In 2000, she and her husband moved to Oskaloosa. They took great joy in helping people of the community celebrate their birthdays and anniversaries. She would dial the telephone and hold it up, her husband would play the appropriate song on his trumpet, and then they would hang up. The two of them enjoyed doing this together for many years. She also enjoyed tending to her flower garden and going to water aerobics. She was an active member of the Methodist Church, first at Kirkville, then at Ainsworth, and last at Central United Methodist Church in Oskaloosa. She delighted in spending time with her family and friends.

Surviving are two sons, Gene McCracken and Judy Davis of Des Moines, and Scott McCracken and wife Sherry of Dumas, Texas; one daughter-in-law (son Wayne?s widow), Joann Young of Des Moines; five grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; two sisters-in-law, Beverly, and Lois McCracken; and numerous nieces and nephews and their children.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, on Oct. 24, 2008; one son, Wayne McCracken; one bother, Don Akins; and one sister, Vivian Siegrist.