In Memory

Nancy Beagley (English)

Nancy Beagley (English)

Nancy Freeman Beagley -CARBONDALE
The death of Nancy Freeman Beagley on Nov. 8, 1999, ended her nine-year battle against Alzheimer's disease. The youngest of four daughters born to Alexander and Nancy Young Freeman of Benton, she was orphaned at the age of 10 years by the death of her father after which her mother resumed a teaching career in the Benton schools. All of the sisters took an active role in church, school, and civic activities.
Nancy also had an active role at SIU during the 1940s. She worked in the student affairs office, was voted an attendant to the homecoming queen, and participated in several theatre productions.  She extended that interest via attendance at a summer theatre festival in Plymouth, Mass.  Her brother-in-law and sister, Joe and Martha Dillinger, resided in Boston where he worked at MIT in the development of radar and she worked at the Harvard alumni office. The two sisters were in Manhattan when the streets overflowed as word came of Japan's surrender, and Nancy was elated to participate in that bit of history.
Her first year of teaching was in Springfield before she moved to Rockford where she resided until 1993 when she moved to Carbondale.  After the death of her husband in the late 1960's, she resumed her teaching career in the Rockford school system with an additional evening class at Rockford College.  This provided her the opportunity of joining new friends in world travels.  Africa was her favorite place to visit.  She was preceded in death by her sister Beulah Sullens (a 1944 war widow).  The two surviving sisters are Mary Kay Cloud of Columbia, Missouri and Martha Dillinger of Carbondale.  Her nieces and nephews reside in several states from California to Idaho and Texas to New England.  They wish to gather in the near future for a tribute to their aunt who loved and encouraged all eight of them as if they were her own.