LORNA GRACE FREITAS

Lorna Grace Freitas, a third-generation Santa Rosan who sprang from the

Gaddis nursery and Wright soda-fountain families, died Sunday at age 65.

She spent many of her days in downtown Santa Rosa, first as a child at

Wright's Fountain and Coffee Shop on Fourth Street. That friendly gathering

place ''was the center of her family's existence through her childhood,'' said

her son, Justin DeFreitas of Oakland.

As an adult, Freitas worked as the receptionist at a downtown office kept

by a group of attorneys that included Marvin Pederson, Ron Fahy and Henry

Culp.

Though she was an alumna of Santa Rosa High School, the reunions she most

looked forward to were those of former students of her grade school, Proctor

Terrace. In 1986, she organized a reunion of the Proctor Terrace Class of

1956, and for the following 20 years enjoyed hosting get-togethers of the

former classmates she'd known since she was 6 and 7 years old.

''My mom was just very social,'' said daughter Natalie Tyler of Santa Rosa.

''She loved her friends, loved to get together with people.''

Freitas had hoped to be physically able to attend her son's Oct. 24 wedding

in Hawaii. But she struggled for 11 years against a cancer, multiple myeloma,

and she accepted days ago that her life was nearly through.

''When she finally decided to let go, she did it with tremendous bravery

and dignity,'' her son said. ''She turned to her doctor and said, 'Thank you

for everything.'''

DeFreitas said he'll remember always that shortly before he and his

fiancee, Kristin Hele, left for Hawaii, the two women shared a wonderful talk

-- and his mother had a great laugh.

The former Lorna Grace Wright was born in Santa Rosa to the late Warren and

Helen Wright.

Her paternal grandparents were Grace and Lawrence Wright. Grace Wright was

a member of one of Berkeley's pioneer families, the Gottshalls. She and

Lawrence Wright operated Wright's Sweet Shoppe in St. Helena in the 1920s, and

later opened Wright's Fountain and Coffee Shop in downtown Santa Rosa.

Freitas' parents took over the coffee shop and subsequently opened The Gourmet

House, a delicatessen and catering business in the Town and Country shopping

center.

Freitas' grandparents on her mother's side were Lucille and James Gaddis of

Gaddis Wholesale Nursery. James Gaddis, an immigrant from Northern Ireland,

started the business at Spender and North streets in the 1920s. It still

operates today, on Piner Road.

Freitas loved her grandfather's tales from Ireland and years ago fulfilled

a dream to visit there. She traveled also to Japan, Egypt and much of Europe.

Her 1965 marriage to Frank W. Freitas ended in divorce.

Though she lived most of her life in Santa Rosa, she loved the Sonoma Coast

and for three years lived in an old fisherman's cottage overlooking Bodega

Bay. She returned to Santa Rosa shortly after the birth of her one grandson.

In addition to that child and her son and daughter, Freitas is survived by

a brother, Larry Wright of Santa Rosa.

Services will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Santa Rosa Memorial Park. Freitas'

family suggests memorial donations to the Multiple Myeloma Research

Foundation, www.multiplemyeloma.org.

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