City of Freeport City Cemetery

Lee. George Washington was the Father of our Country. Robert E. Lee led the Armies of the Confederacy in a four-year fight to tear apart the United States of America. If he had won, slavery would be in the south today—and it might be another nation. Instead, he lost. The country was not split in two, although more than a half-million soldiers died to keep it that way. But bigotry continued.Throughout the South today, Confederate flags still fly. Statues of Lee are there to remind the local African-Americans that the South could rise again. So they better know their place in the scheme of things. As a result, these statues are being removed.It’s important not to go overboard with statue removal. Slavery, so awful, had been an acceptable part of life for thousands of years. It’s mentioned in the Bible, in Roman times, in the Renaissance and when Columbus arrived in what became America. A 50-foot statue of Queen Catherine of the Braganza was scheduled to face out to the United Nations nearly 20 years ago from a waterfront park in Queens. Queens was named after Queen Catherine. I recall that artist Audrey Flack of East Hampton had almost completed it. But then opponents announced that Catherine had been connected to the slave trade. Indeed, her royal families were involved, and although historians say she was not directly involved nor did she own slaves, that statue was cancelled.Truth is that only until about 1700 did it begin to dawn on the developed countries of the world that the institution of slavery was morally indefensible. Soon the importing and exporting slaves between countries was banned by many nations and states. In New York State, a law for gradual abolition was passed in 1799, with the last slave freed by 1827. Had the South agreed to a phased ending of slavery, there would have been no Civil War. There were 3.9 million slaves in the South. Instead, the South tried to break away from America to preserve it.Jefferson Davis Confederate monument, Photo: istock.comIssues of slavery and racism have not been rel... (Dan's Papers)

KuhlemeierPEARL CITY – Lorna J. Kuhlemeier, 71, of Pearl City went to spend eternity with the Lord on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2017. Lorna was born Dec. 5, 1945, in Freeport, to Elmer and Helen (Altenburn) Prasse. Lorna attended Millerburg Country Grade School until eighth grade, and then graduated in 1963 from Freeport High School. Lorna graduated in 1966 from Freeport Memorial School of Nursing. On Oct. 16, 1966, Lorna was united in marriage to Randall Kuhlemeier at Salem Church in Elroy, where her family attended. Lorna and Randall farmed alongside each other until present, and quit milking in 2016. They attended church up the road a mile at Zion, then attended Evangelical Free at Lena, and then Park Hills Evangelical Free in Freeport. Lorna loved spending time in prayer, singing and writing notes to others, spending time with her grandchildren and going to their sporting events with her cowbell, getting together with her ladies’ groups, Bible studies, and baking cookies.  Lorna also enjoyed her cow collection, silk flowers, cinnamon rolls, butter, and salt, and she loved drinking milk.Lorna is survived by her husband; her daughter, Anita (Dave) Evans of Lena, and their children, Ben (Rose) and their daughters, Summer and Violet (Lorna’s great-grandaughters), Luke, and Sarah Evans; her daughter, Amy (Don) Visel of Lena and their children, Josh (Amanda) Visel, Rachel (Caleb) Zimmerman, Isaac (fiancé Brianne Myers), Noah, Josiah, Caleb, Hannah, Rebekah, and Joanna Visel; her daughter, Tricia (Pat) Vandenburgh of Freeport and their children, Christa, Tim, Zeke, Katie and Micah Vandenburgh; her son, Bill (Heidie) Kuhlemeier and their children, Joseph, Ella, Abigail, and Lola Grace Kuhlemeier; her brother, Ron (Evelyn) Prasse; her sister-in-law, Teresa Kuhlemeier; and nephews, Michael Kuhlemeier and Nathan and Rob Prasse. She was preceded in death by her parents, Elmer and Helen Prasse; her stepmother, Doris Prasse; her mother- and father-in-law, Norman and Marjorie Kuhlemeier; her brother-in-law, Mark Kuhlemeier; and her dau... (Prairie Advocate)