Freida P. Steed

Funeral Service: Saturday, January 19, 2013, 10:00 a.m.
                           Place: Peacock Memorial Chapel

                   Visitation: Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, 3 to 5 p.m.
                          Place: Peacock Meorial Chapel

Freida Pearl (Reed) Steed, 91, peacefully passed away at home in the early morning of January 13, 2013, after enjoying an evening of shared old songs, stories and memories with her sons and daughter in laws.

Preceded in death by her husband, Cleo (C.B.) Steed and son Stephen P. Steed, she is survived by her sons Frank D. (Letha) Steed, Clinton G. (Leitha) Steed and Matthew B. (Vanessa) Steed; grandson Jared Steed, granddaughters Allison Steed (Michael) Pineda, Elizabeth Steed, Courtney Steed, Laura (Daniel) Gaeta, Lindsay Steed and Lacy Steed, great grandson Rylan Pineda, and many special nieces and nephews.

Freida was born on October 24, 1921, to Grace Marie (Williams) and George Hevilin Reed, in Vici, Oklahoma. The oldest of three children, she and her two brothers, Frank and Jack, moved with her parents to Colorado Springs, Colorado, during the Great Depression. At age sixteen, Freida graduated from Colorado Springs High School. Continuing her education, she graduated from Blair Business College in Colorado Springs, after which she worked for the Alexander FilmCompany there, moved to Denton, Texas where she worked for a construction company, and then back to Colorado Springs to work at the Camp Carson Army Base during World War II.

At Camp Carson, Freida met 1st LT. C.B. Steed, from Atlanta, Texas, where he was training prior to being deployed to the Pacific front. They were married at the United Brethren Church in Colorado Springs on March 10, 1946, and spent the next 36 years happily together prior to Steed’s death in 1982. Their married life took their sons and them to Odessa, Texas, Pueblo, Colorado, the Colorado Interstate Gas company’s Canyon Booster Station in Southeastern Colorado, Trinidad, Colorado, and La Junta, Colorado.

In 1966 when Freida and Steed made their home in La Junta, Colorado, Freida taught math, reading, writing, home economics and basic cooking skills to special needs students at ARKVA School (now The Girch Center). Realizing that there were no cookbooks available for her students, she developed her own teaching materials which she expanded and ultimately used to author two cookbooks featuring illustrations, provided by her son Steve, to describe recipes and how to prepare meals. Both cookbooks, titled “A Special Picture Cookbook”, Volumes I and II, were the first of this kind, and were published worldwide and used in the education field for over thirty years.

Upon her retirement from the ARKVA School, Freida’s love of adventure found her travelling around the globe to Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, China, Europe, Greece, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. She rode in a hot air balloon at age 84 and loved taking Caribbean cruises, at least, she said, when she wasn’t seasick. When at home in La Junta, she pursued her artistic talents, becoming an accomplished oil painter and continued this hobby until her death, in spite of some health and physical challenges along the way.

Freida also loved to dance. While square dancing at the La Junta Senior Citizen Center in 1987, she shared a few dances with Ernie Orahood that led to a special shared friendship and relationship that lasted until her death.

Generous with her time and boundless energy, Freida was an involved mother and member of any community in which she lived. Besides being committed to and attending all the many activities and events her four sons participated in, she made herself available to numerous charitable causes and events. In La Junta, she particularly was a faithful volunteer at the Otero Museum, a member of Chapter GM, P.E.O., and a proud member of The First Baptist Church where she taught Sunday School and shared her beautiful voice in the choir for many years.

Freida led a wonderful life, lovingly devoted to and surrounded by family, and was blessed with having a great many friends and a true love of life. Despite challenges that life sometimes brings, Freida always uncomplainingly said that she was in great shape for the shape she was in, and carried on. An inspiration of character and an example of how to love and to live life, she was deeply loved and she will be dearly missed by her family and friends.

Having the honor of being pallbearers will be Freida’s beloved grandchildren.

For those who wish, memorial contributions may be made to The First Baptist Church of La Junta or the Arkansas Valley Hospice.

Peacock-Larsen Funeral Home & Arkansas Valley Crematory is in charge of arrangements.

Funeral Services will be held at Peacock Memorial Chapel in La Junta on Saturday, January 19, 2013, at 10:00 a.m., followed by interment and graveside services at the La Junta Fairview Cemetery. A reception generously given in Freida’s honor by The First Baptist Church will follow at the church Fellowship Hall for her family and friends. Visitation will be from 3-5:00 p.m. Friday, January 18, 2013, at the Peacock Memorial Chapel.