Deborah Ann Collins-Freddoso

Deborah Ann Collins-Freddoso, 68, passed away peacefully at her residence, surrounded by her loving family, on December 28, 2017. The tenth of eleven children, she was born on February 3, 1949 in Niagara Falls, NY, to Charles and Marion (Silver) Collins, both of whom preceded her in death.

On July 18, 1970, in North Tonawanda, NY, Debbie married Alfred “Fred” Freddoso, who survives. She is also survived by one daughter, Katie (Daniel) Flood; four sons, David (Nagore Goitiandia) Freddoso, Michael Freddoso, Stephen (Claire Shearer) Freddoso, and Peter (Margaret Blume) Freddoso; and eight grandchildren, Saioa Freddoso, Lucia Freddoso, Xabier Freddoso, Magdalena Freddoso, George Flood, Stella Freddoso, Gemma Freddoso, and Gabriel Flood. Debbie is also survived by two sisters, Susan Clark and Dorothy

Mazza, and one brother, Fr. Stephen Collins of the Diocese of St. Catherine’s, Ontario. She was preceded in death by two sisters, Mary Carol Collins and Catherine Schreiber, as well as five brothers, Charles “Jim” Collins, Thomas Collins, Richard Collins, Francis Collins, and Christopher Collins.

Debbie attended Niagara University and SUNY at Buffalo before receiving her B.A. from Indiana University-South Bend in 1975. She was employed for two years as a caseworker by the St. Joseph County Welfare Department before “retiring” to a rich and variegated life as a loving wife (who was always trying to turn her husband into a better person), a fun-loving yet tough-minded mother and (later) grandmother, a brilliant home manager with excellent organizational skills, a wise confidant, and a devoted and ever-helpful friend. (She also had a marvelous geometrical imagination that enabled her to pack spaces such as car trunks and dishwashers with maximum efficiency.)

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00am on Friday, January 5 at St. Matthew Cathedral, 1701 Miami Street, South Bend. Graveside services and burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery, Mishawaka. Friends may visit with the family from 4:00-8:00pm on Thursday, January 4, at Palmer Funeral Home Hickey Chapel, 17131 Cleveland Road, South Bend, where the rosary will begin at 4:00pm.

Donations in memory of Debbie may be made to the Women’s Care Center, 360 N. Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, IN 46617 or Southold Center for Education, 1432 South Bend Avenue, South Bend, IN 46617.

Online condolences may be left for the Freddoso family at www.palmerfuneralhomes.com.

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