Beverly…….

Mary E. (Lynch) Freeman, age 94, wife of the late Alexander Freeman, a resident of OceanView, 3 Essex St., Beverly for the past 11 years, died in Beverly Hospital early Thursday morning.

Mrs. Freeman was born raised and educated in Salem the daughter of the late John and Mary (Kelleher) Lynch. In an interview last year, 2008 when she was profiled as a "Celebrity" in the OceanView newsletter Mary spoke about her life. With her warm smile and twinkle in her eye, she said " I grew up in Salem and as a kid loved riding my bike over the bridge to Beverly Farms. I had a brother but he passed away as an infant. I was fortunate to have a tennis star, Hans Schneider as a tennis coach in North Conway while growing up. I remember riding the train from Beverly to North Conway to get to those lessons."

Her career began at Holyoke Insurance Company where she was employed until being recruited to the Salem welfare office. Later she was a secretary for the City of Salem at Greenlawn Cemetery until her retirement. However, she still continued working as a secretary for Murphy Funeral Home, in Salem (where her husband Alexander had also worked) with three generations of the Murphy Family until retiring in the early 1990s. In 1998, she and her husband were the third resident to move into OceanView where she became instrumental in welcoming new residents, uplifting the staff and offering advice and feedback to the management.

A loving wife and lifelong parishioner of St. James Church, she enjoyed being with her family, reading the paper, watching television and listening to classical music.

She is the proud stepmother of Richard Freeman of Peabody and Carol Smith and her husband Richard of Marblehead and is also survived by five grandchildren Stacey Vaillancourt and her husband Michael of Boxford, Adam Smith and his wife Sara and Matt Smith and his wife Shana all of Marblehead, Jane Gagne and her husband Jim of Georgetown and Jason Smith of Brookline and three great grandchildren Camden, Cole and Allie Vaillancourt all of Boxford.

Her funeral will be held on Monday, July 27th at 9:15 A.M. from the Murphy Funeral Home, 85 Federal St.,(cor of North St) Salem to be followed by a funeral Mass at 10:00 A.M. in St. James Church, 161 Federal St., Salem. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. Visiting hours will Sunday from 2:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. Interment will be in St. Mary's Cemetery, Salem. Those who wish may make memorial contributions to the OceanView residents activity fund, 3 Essex St., Beverly, MA 01915. For online guest book or additional information please call 978 744 0497 or visit www.MurphyFuneralHome.com.