Richard Leslie Freeman died on June 14. He was 68.
A native of Chicago, Freeman graduated from Indiana University in 1961 with a Bachelor of Science in business and accounting.
He and his wife Linda “Kelly” Cohn Freeman, whom he married in 1960, moved to Columbus, Ohio, where he worked for Federated Department Stores. The following year, the couple moved to the village of Walworth, Wis., to manage Waals Department Store, which was started by Cohn’s family in 1902. The Freemans closed the store in 1996 and retired.
Richard Freeman belonged to many civic organizations, including the Walworth-Fontana Rotary Club, the Geneva-West Chamber of Commerce, the Walworth Industrial Corporation, and served on the Walworth Plan Commission. He was also a member of Congregation Beth Israel in Milwaukee.
“He was a man with a generous heart, who liked single malt scotch and heady intellectual discourse among friends, whom he kept for a lifetime,” wrote Cohn Freeman in a letter to The Chronicle.
“Although the past few years were difficult ones with declining health, he exhibited courage and a strong and devoted love for his family and close friends,” she said in the letter.
Freeman was preceded in death by sister Marlan Sue Bruton. He is further survived by daughters Helena (Michael) Goldstein of Washington, D.C., Sara Freeman (Tracy McCormick) of Minneapolis, Minn., Shelley (Paul) Lehrman of Cleveland, Ohio, and Melissa Spyrison of Carol Stream, Ill.; brother Gerald Freeman of Galena, Ill.; and seven grandchildren.
A memorial service was officiated by Rabbi Mitchell Cohen at the Jewish Home and Care Center in Milwaukee on June 16.
The family appreciates memorial contributions to the Helen Bader Center at the Jewish Home and Care Center.
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