Ina Maud (Gill) Mayer devoted her life to helping children learn. She passed peacefully on Sunday, Aug. 25, a little more than a month after the death of her beloved husband Clarence (Casey) Mayer. Both spent most of their adult lives as teachers in Freeport. Although macular degeneration and dementia challenged her final years, Mrs. Mayer never lost her love of reading or hearing a good story, a pleasure she passed along to her daughters.

Mrs. Mayer was born in rural Dane County, Wisconsin, on Dec. 16, 1926, the fourth of six children born to Edith and Earl Gill. Her mother died when she was just 5 years old and her father's work made it difficult for him to care for the family. Mae Howard agreed to care for Ina and her sister Lorene (Carpenter) while her brother Robert and sister Margaret (Olsen) lived nearby with Mae's brother and sister-in-law. Her youngest sister, Harriet Wilma (Klossner), was adopted by a family in New Glarus.

Thanks to the generosity of her older brother and sister, Mrs. Mayer was able to attend Wisconsin State Teaching College in Platteville (now University of Wisconsin, Platteville) and earned a 3-year degree in elementary education. She taught first in Evansville, Wisconsin, and then in New Glarus, where she met Casey and reconnected with her youngest sister. Casey offered to carry her suitcase to the bus stop one day, beginning a romance that lasted throughout their lives. Mr. Mayer wasn't the only one with a crush on the vivacious kindergarten teacher. Years later while stopping to eat in New Glarus with one of his daughters, another diner turned, looked at Casey and said, "I know you. You're the man who married Miss Gill." You could hear the disappointment in his voice.

Mrs. Mayer left teaching temporarily to raise her daughters, returning to complete her B.S. in education at Platteville in 1969, commuting from Freeport where the family had moved in 1952. She returned to full-time teaching at Jane Addams Elementary School in Cedarville where she taught fourth grade. She later taught at Blackhawk Elementary School in Freeport as a reading specialist, helping numerous children go from being struggling to confident readers. She retired in 1988 to spend more time travelling with her husband, volunteering as campground hosts in Missouri, Montana and New Mexico, volunteering at Empire School, and visiting grandchildren to introduce another generation to the joy of reading.

She was a member of the Northwestern Illinois Reading Council, the YWCA, and First Lutheran Church. She sewed her own and her daughters' clothes for years and, even as her eyesight was failing, she sewed doll clothes for her granddaughter and enjoyed various types of needlework. She was a whiz at crossword puzzles up until her final years.

Mrs. Mayer is survived by her daughters, Jean Mayer of Tampa, Florida; Cindy (Steve) O'Dell of Irvine, California; and Peggy (Jeff) Young of Kalispell, Montana; her grandchildren, Lindsay Prokopetz of Baltimore, Maryland; Lance Young of Kalispell, Montana; Ben O'Dell of San Jose, California; and Aaron Young of Kalispell, Montana; her sister-in-law Betty Jo Gill; Casey's brother and his wife, Marvin and Lauretta Mayer; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Donations in her memory may be made to the Parkview Foundation or Freeport Health Network's hospice program. Following cremation services provided by Walker Mortuary, her ashes will be interred at Oakland Cemetery in a private ceremony. Her family is especially appreciative of the loving care provided by the Parkview staff and hospice. Condolences may be shared at www.walkermortuary.com.