Freda Louise Daum Massey

Freda Louise Daum Massey, of Paragould, Arkansas, passed away on November 24th, 2018, after a short illness at the age of 84. She was the daughter of Fred and Lorraine Daum of Pleasant Grove, AR, and was born on June 2; 1934.She graduated from Pleasant Grove High School in 1951 and then attended Arkansas Polytechnic College in Russellville where she started her pursuit of degrees in agriculture and elementary education. Freda Daum married Loy Massey of Locust Grove on September 14th, 1956, despite the fact that she accidentally stuck her ice cream cone to the roof of his brand new Ford sedan on their first date. Her teaching career started in her late teenage years at Flag, in one of the last one-room schools in Stone County. This was followed by a few years at the Timbo School. In 1956, Freda began teaching at Mountain View School where, except for a few years when her own children were preschoolers, she taught first and second grades until her retirement in 1985.She also pursued a lifelong love of history and did much research and writing on the history of her family, Stone County, and the surrounding region. Her first publication was an index to every known burial in Stone County, a project which she continued to revise until her death. Even family vacations were used as detours to courthouses and cemeteries in far flung states to further her historical research. She helped to organize the Stone County Historical Society (1972), the Stone County Genealogical Society (1978), and the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (1983). She was an active member of Marcella Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Mountain View, Mountain View Garden Club, Stone County Library Board, and the Stone County Retired Teachers Association for many years. With her family, camping and outdoor activities were also vital parts of Freda’s life. Freda and her family and friends traveled all over our country (49 states) including National Parks and even Alaska. In their retirement years, Freda and Loy moved from Mountain View to Paragould and were members of First Baptist Church of Paragould.

Freda is survived by her husband of 62 years, Loy Massey; daughter Melisa Williams of Paragould, AR; son Mark Massey and wife Cheri of Eldersburg, MD; grandchildren Callie and Maggie Williams and Andrew and Austin Massey; sisters Phyllis Clark of Prairie Grove, AR and Judy Vavak and husband Cecil of Kennett, MO; brother William Daum and wife Jane of Batesville, AR; and brother-in-law Ray Cain of Pleasant Grove, AR.

Freda was preceded in death by her parents Fred and Lorraine Daum of Pleasant Grove, AR; and a sister Margaret Sue Cain of Kansas City, MO.

A visitation will be held in Paragould at Heath Funeral Home on Thursday, November 29th, 5 – 7pm.A visitation will be held in Mountain View, Arkansas at First Baptist Church on Friday, November 30th, from
12:30 – 2pm.The memorial service will follow at First Baptist Church at
2:00 pm with Rev. Mark Massey and Rev. Jason Ingram officiating. Burial will follow afterwards at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Stone County Historical Society (P.O. Box 210, Mountain View, AR 72560).