Edgar Freeland
Edgar Merl Freeland, 83, died Nov. 18, 2002, at his home in Manhattan.
He was born Aug. 27, 1919, in El Dorado to Robert Haddon and Ethel May (Stewart) Freeland.
He and his family lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, California, and Colorado during the Depression years and moved back to Burns in 1932 to live on the farm that Edgar's grandparents, William and Mary (Hillyer) Freeland, had purchased in the early 1900s.
He graduated from Burns High School in 1937 and attended one year of college at El Dorado.
During World War II, he helped his parents on the two farms they owned near Burns. They raised wheat, oats, white kaffir corn, alfalfa, corn, and flax, which was used to make parachute lines. He later raised milo, soybeans, and sunflowers. He was one of the first farmers in Marion County to terrace his land for conservation purposes.
Freeland continued farming and also drove a school bus for 12 years. The family was active in the Burns United Methodist Church.
He married Edla Josephine Mostrom May 19, 1946, at Marion Hill Lutheran Church near White City.
The couple enjoyed traveling and visited California, Hawaii, the East Coast, Texas, and many other states. They also traveled to Costa Rica to visit their daughter Gloria, who worked there for two years, and to Bolivia three times to visit their daughter Gaila, who has lived in La Paz since 1983.
The Freelands moved to Manhattan in October 2000.
He enjoyed his family and studying their history. He was considered a "keeper of the family memories" by his children and others in the family. He loved K-State sports, reading, crossword puzzles, and his pets. He also had a small role in the movie, "Mars Attacks," part of which was filmed in Burns.
He was preceded in death by his parents and Gloria's first husband, Jerome Johanning.
Survivors include his wife, Edla; son and daughter-in-law, David and Linda Freeland of Salina; two daughters and sons-in-law, Gloria Freeland and Arthur Vaughan of Manhattan and Gaila and Humberto Chambi of La Paz, Bolivia; two brothers, Robert and Stanley, both of California; a sister-in-law, Edith Keys of Council Grove; six grandchildren; four nephews; and one niece.
Services were held Wednesday afternoon at First Lutheran Church, Manhattan, with the Rev. David Beese officiating.
The family will have a celebration of his life in the summer of 2003 in Burns.
Memorial funds have been established with Burns United Methodist Church, Homecare and Hospice Inc. of Manhattan, and the Burns Historical Museum.
