Longtime Freeport educator Ellen Elizabeth (Francke) Irwin passed peacefully at her home in Conroe, Texas on July 24, 2018.

Mrs. Irwin was born in Mt. Carroll, Illinois in 1919 to Hal and Iona (Bickelhaupt) Francke.  In 1946 she married William Irwin of Freeport.

She graduated from Shimer College and Cornell College, and later received her Master's degree in piano from Northern Illinois University.  She taught in Freeport Public Schools as an elementary teacher and elementary music supervisor for over 30 years as well as teaching piano in her home on Lincoln Blvd.

She was instrumental in the restoration and preservation of the Campbell Center on the Shimer campus after the college closed.

Preceded in death by her husband and her younger son Daniel, Mrs. Irwin is survived by her son, David (Kathleen), daughter-in-law Camelia, and grandson, John Irwin.

Interment will take place at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Freeport.  A memorial service will be held at a later date.