Freida Marie (Jones) Pekarek, 82, passed peacefully from this life on Feb. 25, 2025, in Springfield. She was born April 8, 1942, in Lebanon, Mo., the first-born daughter of Harry David "Digger" Jones and Louise Enos (Krudwig) Jones.

Freida began talking at an early age (9 months) and loved public speaking. At age 12, she won a statewide youth speech contest in Jefferson City. She graduated Lebanon High School in 1960 and then attended beauty school in Springfield. After graduation, she found employment at a beauty shop in Waynesville.

Freida enjoyed homemaking, and was an expert seamstress, knitter and baker, winning numerous awards over the years at various county fairs. She learned all those skills from her mother, with whom she normally competed at the fairs. Louise always took the blue ribbon, and Freida took the red ribbon. Each encouraged kind competition with other, believing that made them better at their craft.

She was very involved in her children's activities, immensely enjoying being a "band mom" and helping with Mr. Dee Lewis's band trips and banquets.

Freida was very proud of her heritage: her father aided in much development work in the Lebanon area; her paternal grandparents operated a gas station for years on Route 66; and her maternal uncles built many Catholic churches in the southwest Missouri area.

Over the years, Freida enjoyed teaching and leading sewing and knitting classes, sold knitting machines and was involved in her church, Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Springfield. She was a devout Catholic, a former eucharistic minister and a member of the church's Knitting Group.

In 1988, she enrolled in Ozarks Technical College and earned an associate's degree in computer programming in 1990. Her career involved work in sales, at RBX in Strafford, and at Ozarks Technical College in the Continuing Education Department, which she dearly loved. She retired from OTC in 2011 after 14 years of service.

She was predeceased by her mother, Louise, and her father, Harry; and her three sisters: Davidann O'Dell, Rebecca Ridgeway and Cathy King. She is survived by her daughter: Sally Jo (Pekarek) Carroll and her husband, Don, of Bella Vista, Ark., and her son: James Edward Pekarek and his wife, Karin, of Northview; three grandchildren: Kayton Marie (Carroll) Glendening and her husband, Grant, of Navasota, Texas; Emelia Grace Carroll of Rogers, Ark., and Kender John Carroll and his finance, Kristin Shipley, of Tahlequah, Okla.; several cousins; numerous nieces and nephews and a host of friends.

A memorial service will be held at a later date this spring.

Memorials may be sent to the Thrift Haven Thrift Store in Springfield (benefitting the Fair Haven Children's Home) or the Springfield Public Library system.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Midwest Cremation and Funeral Services of Springfield, MO.