Freda Phoebe Sargent

On September 7, 2024, in the wee hours of the morning, Freda Phoebe (Day) Sargent, slipped quietly through the gates of Heaven.

Freda's legacy begins in Hanover, New Hampshire on the first day of summer, June 21, 1942. She was the middle daughter of Edward Albert and Freda Phoebe (Stone) Day. She was named after her mother and soon "Baby Freda" was shortened to "Babe," a nickname that a lot of her extended family use to this day.

Along with her parents and three siblings, Freda spent much of her childhood living in two ~ 8 ft. x 10 ft. camps, using one for sleeping quarters and one for cooking. These camps were hauled around on skids behind workhorses from one logging camp to another throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. In 1947, when she was five, she switched schools three times, going from 1st grade, to kindergarten, and then back to 1st grade again all in the same year.

In 1951, Freda and her family moved to the Roger Reed Farm in Cornish, NH. Although it was a house instead of a camp, the living conditions were still very undesirable in todays standards. With only two woodstoves to heat the big farmhouse, she would talk about the water being frozen in the tea kettle when they woke up in the morning.

Between her junior and senior years of high school, she took a job working for their neighbor, J.D. Salinger, author of the banned book Catcher in the Rye. She cleaned for him and his wife and babysat their two young children, making enough money that summer to buy her first Singer Featherweight sewing machine.

Freda and Irving met in the early 60's and were married on March 3, 1962, in Plainfield, NH. During their married life, they moved multiple times, living in Fairlee, VT, West Palm Beach, FL, and Talladega, AL, to name a few. They finally found their forever spot in Exline, IA after a visit with their daughter, Janna, in 2008.

Freda became an active member of the Exline community and soon made many great friends with her welcoming personality and infectious smile. While in Exline, she put her sewing skills to good use; mending and hemming curtains and clothing to earn a little extra money.

She was predeceased by her sweet Shih Tzu, Pepper on September 18, 2021, and her husband of almost 60 years, Irving, on January 11, 2022.

She is survived by one biological sister, Angel (Dennis), three sisters-in-love, Barb, Honey (Hank) & Gerry, a stepson, Bill (Lynnelle), her son Ed (Judith) and her daughter Janna (Todd), 6 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren and many nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family members.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to EveryStep Hospice and Home Care in Centerville, Iowa.

A celebration of beautiful lives lived will be held for Freda and Irving on October 19, 2024, at the Main Street Station in Exline, IA at Noon.