Britany “Danielle” Freeman Jordan had reached some huge moments in the past couple of years. She had her dream wedding and gave birth to a son.
Freeman Jordan loved books as a child and shared that love with students at Marshall Primary School every day.
At 32, she died unexpectedly Wednesday morning of a pulmonary embolism, Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said.
“Its been a very sorrowful day,” said Shelly Blalock, the principal of Marshall Primary. “Because she was our media specialist, she touched the lives of every student and adult in the building.”
She had a bubbly personality and contagious spirit, Blalock said. The students are sad but they hugged and supported each other last week after hearing the news, she said.
Freeman Jordan’s education was rooted at Westside High School and furthered at Clemson and USC. She was a fourth grade teacher at Belton Elementary for four years and taught third grade in Aiken County for three years.
“She made children her life’s endeavor,” the Rev. Bryan Holder said at her funeral Monday afternoon.
She was also a loving mother to her two children, Caroline, 7, and Benjamin, who she had given birth to two months ago.
As Holder looked out at the crowd of grieving faces, he said he remembered speaking at Freeman Jordan’s wedding with Kevin Jordan just two years ago.
“It didn’t take long to figure out Danielle’s personality,” Holder said, with a laugh, “that’s exactly who Kevin needed to keep him straight. It was a good time.”
This week, one of her students asked ‘who’s going to do voices now?’
“Danielle could read a book in the most hilarious voices, making it fun for children,” Holder said.
Freeman Jordan’s co-worker Casey Downie said she knew her for too short a time but couldn’t measure how much joy she brought to everyone around her.
“A personality that was larger than life, with a verve for the world around her, Danielle created a wake of joy wherever she went,” Downie said. “She took life by the horns, would let you know exactly how it was, and if you were in a place of unhappiness, her force of personality would help you to find the good in the world.”
Freeman Jordan was a perfect match for Marshall Primary with her imagination and creativity, Downie said.
“Danielle was a librarian that was so much more. She would enter the library as Danielle Jordan, but would then transform into a wondrous character, one that may have stepped from the pages of the book she was using to teach her students,” she said.
Downie reflected on the time Freeman Jordan was telling a story about using reindeer poop to make Santa’s sleigh fly. Instead of leaving it there, she brought glitter slime to school to play the part.
“Danielle was the conduit to that magical realm,” Downie said. “Through both her zest for teaching and exuberance in sharing the wonder of the written word.”
Sarah Sheridan is the community reporter in Anderson. She’d appreciate your help telling important stories; reach her at [email protected] or on twitter @saralinasher.
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