Doris Jean (Pearl) Freiberger

Doris Jean Pearl was born on February 10, 1934 in Louisville, Kentucky to John Willy Pearl and Thelma Ray Busroe Pearl. Doris was John & Thelma’s third child, sharing the roost with older brothers Howard and Ken, and baby brother Bill. John bought a farm near Fort Knox, KY when Doris was about three years old. Doris and her family moved from Fort Knox to New Albany, Indiana when she was six years old, after the US Army bought the Pearl farm to expand the Fort Knox facility as part of the buildup during World War II. John later watched as the Army drove a tank through the old house and barn. Doris then grew up on the new farm her father purchased on the Ohio River located on River Road a few miles west of New Albany. The Army had allowed John to log the Fort Knox place, and he and his older sons used the timber to build a substantial barn on the new place. John gave the new farm the name “River View Farm, J.W. Pearl,” which he proudly painted in black letters on the side of the white barn. The barn and name were visible from River Road for decades until a recent flood carried the barn away. Doris had early memories of waiting in the second floor of the old home as flood waters filled up the lower floor, and needing to seek higher ground by rowboat when dawn arose. During subsequent flooding events, the family would retreat upland when the rising waters were forecast that might inundate the farm.

Doris attended New Albany High School, graduating in 1952. Doris was a member of the school rifle club, winning a state title with them. Before her younger sons knew this little bit of history, they once offered to take her with them for some target practice. The boys were quite startled to find that Mom had lost none of her dead eye skills when she put them to shame on the range.

Doris met the love of her life, Eugene August Freiberger, on a blind double date. She thought he was kind of cute, and they quickly became a couple. Doris married Eugene on August 14, 1951 in New Albany, IN. They made their first home at the River Road farm, not long after moving to a home built for them by the Pearl Brothers on Grant Line Road. Children followed in quick succession, and occupied most of her time and energy for the next 20 years or so. She had taken a break from high school to marry and have her first child, and returned to graduate when Eugene’s brother Melvin, who had dropped out, said he would go back if she would. The challenge worked for both of them. Eugene traveled frequently with his job during this period, while Doris remained at home most of the time, raising her growing brood, as well as watching after various and sundry nephews and nieces and the occasional child of a friend or neighbor in need. She was “Mom” to many as a result. There was never a time when there was not room at the table for a hungry child or a friend who “happened by” at the opportune time. Doris did get to make a few trips during this period of her life, including to New York and England, which allowed her to check up on what Eugene was doing on his longer times away from home. Sometimes the whole family would go along for a summer, of which Fort Lauderdale, FL and Memphis, TN were the most memorable. Eugene finished his career in the Washington, DC area, and both of them enjoyed visiting the many historic sites in the area, and sharing these with visitors from home.

Doris was an accomplished seamstress, making most of her own and daughter Janice’s’ clothing, and producing clothing for sisters-in-law as well as artistic hand bags and other craft items. If it could be done with needle and thread, she could do it. Her well-appointed sewing room was the scene of many pleasurable hours as she made her creations. Doris was a cake-maker, and produced most of the wedding cakes for a generation of cousins, grandchildren, and friends who could talk her into the effort. She was also a crackerjack cook, and made full use of the garden produce that Eugene grew on the homestead, especially during their golden years. Not one to spend much time in the garden herself, she would comment, “If he grows it, I’ll cook it”. The two of them were also quite the team in canning surplus produce for use later in the year. Doris and Eugene and the adult children continued the Freiberger tradition of gathering the larger clan to make apple butter with Aunt Jenny’s secret recipe. Doris was always at the center of the action, making sure all the ingredients were just so.

Doris loved to travel, and made many visits with Eugene to California and Washington State to visit her sons and their families. They saw many of the sights of the western part of the US during these trips, and got to watch her far flung family as it grew. In recent years she would travel with son Brent and grandson Loren to civil war enactments about the region, dressing in period attire to support the troops on the line. She made her own getup, of course.

Doris and Eugene were members of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church for most of their sixty-seven marriage. In their later years, Doris and Eugene shared a passion for providing funeral meals for their church family. With such a large congregation, this was generally a weekly event. Ever the organizer, Doris teamed with other church members to provide food for grieving family and friends, and Eugene arranged the tables and helped as needed. Doris also was a lifetime bunko club member, as well as an avid TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) member, even after her own success in this area was assured. She had planned to travel this next weekend to attend and celebrate an award for a fellow local TOPS member who had reached a weight loss significant milestone. She was like that, always encouraging others and sharing from her own experiences.

Doris was a bit of a whirlwind, constantly on the go from one function to another. She did not allow her illness in later years to do more than slow her pace a bit. Her joy was in her family and friends, and her church. She enjoyed serving others, and took great pleasure in serving well. She was humble about her gifts, but gifted she was, with a knack for getting things done and done the right way. She was a peace-maker, and could or would not hold a grudge. She was not one to speak ill of anyone. She loved Jesus, whose character she modeled, and rests in the hope of His resurrection. Truly it can be said of her, “Houses and riches are an inheritance from the fathers, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.” Proverbs 19.14

Doris was a beloved sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She is survived by her brother Ken and wife Ruby Pearl of New Albany, IN; her husband Eugene; son Philip and daughter-in-law Tina Brazil Freiberger of Los Gatos, CA; son Mark and daughter-in-law Dana Perry Freiberger of Sedro-Woolley, WA; daughter Janice Freiberger of New Albany, IN; son Brent Freiberger of New Albany, IN, son Lane and daughter-in-law Linda Wells Freiberger of Lanesville, IN, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm Friday, May 11, 2018 at the Kraft Funeral Service, 708 E. Spring Street, New Albany. Funeral services are planned for 11:00 am Saturday, May 12, 2018 at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, 1752 Scheller Lane, New Albany, Indiana. Interment will follow at the Saint Mary of the Knobs Cemetery.