The town remembers “Mr. Strathmore”

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

On the 40th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion, John Scheer stood beside hundreds of WW2 veterans in Dover, England waiting to cross the channel to Calais, France. A man in a grey suit took notice of his nametag and shared the story of a young man from Strathmore nicknamed “Junior” who they hadn’t been able to locate yet on the reunion. Scheer’s friend, George Freeman, stood only a few feet away when he pointed him out. What followed next is a is a memory Scheer is unlikely going to forget, and a true testament of the impact Freeman, Strathmore’s last known D-Day veteran who passed away on Nov. 6, had on those around him.
“He stepped over in front of George, put his hand on each shoulder looked at his nametag, lifted his face to the sky and yelled, ‘Junior!’ I tell you here they came, there were fellows coming from each direction, I tell you the reunion was in progress now,” Scheer remembered with a chuckle. “It was so interesting and wonderful to see and I was so appreciative of George inviting me to go with him.”
Freeman was born and raised in Strathmore and joined the army at the age of 18. He was in the first wave on D-Day – the Battle of Normandy – and walked away without a scratch after serving for 11 months, when the war ended in 1945. Upon his return, Freeman devoted his life to his family, his passions, and the community with such fervor that it earned him the title of Mr. Strathmore by family and community members. While those who knew him remember his quick and witty comments and playful sense of humour, the father of two and grandfather to three loved to share his knowledge. Having punched the clock at Ducks Unlimited for 53 years, Freeman – or Mr. DU – played an instrumental role in wetland and waterfowl habitat conservation within Southern Alberta. Freeman took specimens, like stuffed ducks, geese, small beavers and muskrats to classrooms in the area and educated students on the environment and conservation. In the 1970s he visited the Carseland school, where he became a strong influence in the life of Craig Bishop.
“I’ve known George my whole life, he was quite a mentor to me when I was young and looking at my career,” said Bishop, manager of environmental services and education for Alberta.
“The thing about George was that he was not just educating the youth, but the public at large. He was like that with everything; his time in the war effort, the Canadian Legion and all the other things that he was a community leader in the Strathmore area for. It was just part of the way he was and what he stood for.
“He had the ability to talk to anybody and everybody. He influenced a lot of people and a lot of the legacy that we have at Ducks Unlimited is squarely set on the foundation that George set. He had a huge reach. He will be sorely missed by us.”
Many of the projects Freeman started in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s are still in existence and functioning as waterfowl habitat today. According to Bishop, Freeman’s name is known to members of the corporation ranging from coast to coast.
But his involvement didn’t end there. The Strathmore local helped with choirs, plays, and charities and even emceed the Strathmore Summer Games in 1984 as well as many weddings and anniversaries.
Since 1977, Freeman and Scheer visited schools on Remembrance Day and vastly promoted the Poster Poem and Essay contest. He served as fire chief of Strathmore for 13 years, as director of the Calgary Zoological Society from 1951 to 1974, and as president of the golf course and curling rink in the 1950s. He was also instrumental in the creation of Strathmore’s history book, The Village that Moved, in 1986. Nearly a decade later, Freeman also wrote the history book for the 50th anniversary of the Western Irrigation District, Flow beyond the Weir.
“He’s someone I always admired for being so involved in the community and always helping people out, helping at community functions, talking to school kids and keeping the Remembrance Day memories alive, and definitely someone to who Strathmore was always home,” said Larry Freeman, George’s son. “He was 94, he was very happy. He had a lot of things he did in his life.”
Freeman’s nephew, Wally, also remembered his uncle as someone who always lend a helping hand. He recalled George and his wife, Helene, setting up aid stations during the Strathmore Lions Club’s walkathons, and rubbing people’s feet and handing out dry socks.
Although his family said there had been multiple opportunities to relocate to another community and even province, Freeman always refused.
Then in 2010, the Town of Strathmore honoured him by changing the name of the East Boundary Road to George Freeman Trail. Furthermore, he received the highest honour bestowed upon anyone in France two years ago: the Order of the Legion of Honour to France.
While John Scheer said the last years hadn’t been as productive for Freeman, he emphasized the tremendous record the individual left behind for others to emulate. However, his wife Ann expressed a different view of the friend she will miss dearly.
“He had such a wicked sense of humour and his eyes were sparkling all the time, I think he just wanted to enjoy life,” said Ann Scheer. “He was living the lives of all his friends that didn’t make it, I’m sure. He was doing his darnest to make life better in Canada, that those guys didn’t die in vain. He was just a real nice, ordinary guy doing extraordinary things.
“If anyone deserves a final tribute, by gosh, there was a good Canadian for you.”