Gordon P. Freese

Gordon Perry Freese, 93, died November 29 at Oakwood Village Retirement Community in Madison Wisconsin. He was born in Lakewood, Ohio, the son of Willard and Eugenie Prebble Freese, and grew up there, an only child. His undergraduate degree was from the University of Chicago, and he received his Master's degree in Public Administration from the Maxwell Graduate School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York, in 1941. During his study at Syracuse University, he married the late Elizabeth Ruth Hoag of Barrington, Rhode Island, on November 9, 1940. After graduation he worked for the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. He served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. After the war he was assigned to the U.S. Office of Military Government under General Lucius D. Clay in Berlin, where his work focused on rehabilitation of the German economy. He and his family, which by that time included daughters Lynne and Martha, were present in Berlin through the 11 months of the 1948/49 airlift, when the Soviet Union blocked land access to the city. In 1953 he left government work for a position as Vice President of Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. After the death of his wife Elizabeth, Gordon married the former Jean Bliss, a Madison-born instructor in the Stephens College Department of Physical Education and Dance, on June 14, 1968. In 1974 Gordon accepted the position of Vice President at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Three years later, he and his wife retired to McFarland, Wisconsin, where they designed and built their retirement home on Bliss family property overlooking Lake Waubesa. There they often hosted their grandchildren Catherine and Sarah Landwehr, and Justin and Elsa Hume, who looked forward to summer swims in the lake, canoeing adventures, spirited games of ""Pit"", trips to the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, and their Grandmother Jean's good Wisconsin cooking. In 1992, Gordon was named McFarland Village's Volunteer Worker of the Year. He served as a Trustee on McFarland's Village Board for many years, was a member of the Regional Plan Commission, on the Board of the Village Historical Society, and was a charter member of McFarland United Church of Christ, serving as its treasurer for ten years. His lifelong preoccupation with social justice manifested itself in his volunteer work for Habitat for Humanity. His and Jean's years of service to this organization were honored when Habitat chose the name Freese Lane for one of the streets in their development, Twin Oaks, in south-east Madison. The Freeses moved to Oakwood Village West in 2002, and in 2008 Gordon moved to the Memory Unit, Covenant Oaks, where he had excellent care until he died. He is survived by his wife, Jean, of Madison, daughters, Lynne (Al), San Luis Obispo, CA; Martha (Brian), Victoria, British Columbia; Alison, Alexandria, Virginia; and son, David (Niramon), Victoria, British Columbia; his grandchildren, Catherine Askew-Landwehr, Sarah Landwehr, Elsa Hume, and Justin Hume; and by his great-grandchildren, Jonah and Ivan Landwehr-Askew. The family wants to thank all of the staff at Covenant -- particularly those on Lilac Lane and Heidi Stringhan, as well as the team from Hospice, which worked with Gordon and Jean these last few months. They all became a part of the family and will be remembered as the ones who made Gordon's last days easier. A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 a.m. TODAY, Saturday, December 5, 2009 at Oakwood Village West in the Resurrection Chapel, 6205 Mineral Point Road, Madison, with a visitation one hour prior to services.