Honoring the Freidheim Family

For more than 30 years, Marguerite “Mitzi” Freidheim has been a dedicated and devoted champion for children through her work on behalf of Children’s Home + Aid. Mitzi joined our Woman’s Board more than 30 years ago, and went on to chair both the Woman’s Board and the Children’s Home & Aid Board of Trustees. Mitzi and her family have made a profound difference in the lives of countless children, and her extraordinary generosity and service will be honored at the 97th Annual September Gala, hosted by the Woman’s Board of Children’s Home & Aid.

Mitzi was born and raised in Chicago, and has been dedicated to serving children her entire life.

“I am positively blessed with three happy, healthy, good children of whom I am so proud and love with my whole heart,” she says. “I wanted to extend the same love and support to other children, and Children’s Home & Aid has allowed me to do that.”

Mitzi’s husband of 56 years, Cyrus, and her three children Stephen, Scott and Lynn, share her dedication to philanthropy and service, and to the mission of Children’s Home & Aid. From raising funds, to bringing her beloved Golden Retriever Jolie to visits at the early childhood center, Mitzi has shared her love and compassion with children and families across Chicago.

In 2007, Mitzi and her family responded generously to the need for high-quality early childhood education in Englewood. The Mitzi Freidheim Englewood Child & Family Center, funded in large part by the Freidheim family and named in honor of Mitzi, opened in 2007 and supports a wide range of programs serving children and parents.

The Freidheim children Scott, Stephen and Lynn have supported their parents’ involvement with the organization by donating both playgrounds at the Mitzi Freidheim Children & Family Center, as well as classrooms and the playground at the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Child & Family Center, located in Evanston, Illinois. Stephen Freidheim is a Sustaining Board member and serves as Vice Chair of the Foundation Board of Children’s Home + Aid.

“We are so honored to recognize the Freidheim family’s extraordinary generosity and leadership on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Mitzi Freidheim Child & Family Center in Englewood,” says Nancy Ronquillo, CEO of Children’s Home & Aid. “Many of our Englewood parents refer to the Center as a beacon of hope and we know that this light of hope is needed now more than ever, in Chicago, in Illinois and in our nation. Mitzi exemplifies what it means to be a ‘lamplighter’ for children, showing our boys and girls the way to a brighter future. We are profoundly grateful for her leadership and dedication to our children and families.”