Audrey Vreeland, a longtime Hillsboro civic leader and historian, died Monday (April 20). She was 89.
“She loved Hillsboro,” said Mandy Alley, the chamber administrator. “A lot of people referred to her as the first lady of Hillsboro and the town historian. She was full of history and knowledge of our town. People would call her when they needed to know something (about Hillsboro), myself included.”
Mrs. Vreeland was instrumental in establishing the Greater Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce and the annual Hillsboro Homecoming and Festival, Alley said.
“She is the person who formed the chamber; it was her idea, and she gathered a group of people and they had a meeting and formed the chamber,” Alley said. “When I came on to the chamber, she took me under her wing and she told me what the chamber stood for and what the chamber should continue to do and accomplish in the community.
“She was very well respected in the community, and she was a great mentor to me. I had the utmost respect for her and looked up to her and saw what she had accomplished and didn’t want to let her down.”
Alley said Mrs. Vreeland also established Monticello First, a Hillsboro historical society, and she ran the group’s museum, which was housed in a storefront along Hwy. 21.
“She collected historical items that people had donated and items that came from the Vreeland family, and she had them on display,” Alley said. “The group disbanded a year and a half ago or so, and whatever they had left was donated to the Fletcher House.”
Mrs. Vreeland also was an active volunteer for the Gov. Thomas C. Fletcher House in Hillsboro, a historic home built around 1850, where Missouri’s first Republican governor had lived.
“She was president of the Fletcher House and she held many roles there,” Alley said. “She got me involved there and taught me how to make bows for the Christmas trees and how to decorate them authentic to the time period, using dried flowers and berries.
“She taught me about the different events they held there and what you needed to run them.”
Alley said Mrs. Vreeland had many talents, like making the period clothing she wore to historical events.
“She made pies for the (Fletcher House) pie auction, and clothes for the Ghost Walk,” Alley said. "She wrote short stories. She was very hands-on.”
Over the past couple of years, Mrs. Vreeland’s health began to decline and she moved last year from her longtime Hillsboro home to Festus.
She could no longer do as much as she wanted to, but she still stayed involved, Alley said.
“As much as she loved the Fletcher House and the chamber, she couldn’t keep up like she used to,” Alley said. “But, up until last year, Audrey would make bows (to decorate the Fletcher House Christmas trees).”
Fortunately, Mrs. Vreeland recruited a group of people to help with the organizations she held so dear, and her work carries on, Alley said.
“She laid the foundation for the rest of us.”
Mrs. Vreeland was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie Vreeland, who had worked for more than 50 years as the Hillsboro city clerk and administrator.
She is survived by three children: Karen Eye (Paul) of Florissant, Beth Vreeland of Festus and Eric Vreeland of Knoxville, Tenn., as well as three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A private visitation, funeral Mass and burial will be held, and a public celebration of her life will be scheduled at a later date.
Memorials may be made to the Gov. Thomas C. Fletcher House, P.O. Box 911, Hillsboro, 63050, or to the Hillsboro City Park, P.O. Box 19, Hillsboro, 63050.