Marjorie LaDean Freeman

Born in Grand Junction, Colorado, to Doss (Slim) Shultz and Martha Elsberry Shultz, Marjorie was raised in the little town of Mesa, Colorado at the foot of the Grand Mesa. Her grandfather on her father’s side, Herman Shultz, came to Mesa around 1915 and her great grandfather on her mother’s side, Ayers Elsberry, was a true pioneer of the Plateau Valley, coming to Mesa with his son, John, around 1900. She had one sister, Lois Arlene Shultz Harper who has since passed.

 As a teenager in Mesa, she often helped her parents in the family-operated grocery store, Shultz Grocery. She pumped gas for customers in the 1940s when the gas had to be pumped by hand into the glass cylinder on top, then drained into the car’s gas tank. Marjorie married James Simpson and had three daughters, Jacki Lynn, Vicki Lou and Loie Sue before getting a divorce. After getting her teacher certificate from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, Marjorie taught in Longmont, Carbondale and Craig, Colorado. She was also a guidance counselor for many years at Fruita Monument High School where she deeply enjoyed helping students wisely choose careers and colleges upon their graduation.

In 1972 she married Tom Freeman and acquired a second family in Tom Jr., Kim, Alison and Bryan. Tom also adopted Loie Sue. Marjorie and Tom built a home in Bull Creek Basin in the Plateau Valley not far from where Marjorie was raised in Mesa. They lived there for 30 years before buying a house in Grand Junction. We all miss the holiday celebrations held in the home in Bull Creek Basin. Marjorie will be missed by three daughters, four grandchildren, fourteen great grandchildren with one on the way, and one great-great granddaughter.