Hopkinsville, KY – Lindsay Marlowe Freeman, known for his service as a U.S. Army Reserve major general and his work as a partner and later owner of his family’s nationally renowned furrier business based in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, died Sunday. He was 87.
Freeman died quietly in his sleep at Trigg County Hospital in Cadiz, Kentucky, where he was recuperating from recent pacemaker surgery. Funeral arrangements are pending with Hughart, Beard and Giles Funeral Home in Hopkinsville.
A native of Hopkinsville, Freeman graduated from Hopkinsville High School in 1955 and Murray State University in 1959, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant through Murray State’s ROTC program and was recognized as a distinguished military graduate.
He married his college sweetheart, then Nancy Morgan, in 1961, and began work with his father, Howard Freeman, and sister, Anne Freeman Peace, at Freeman’s Fur Shop in Hopkinsville, one of the area’s most prestigious and unique businesses.
The fur shop, which opened in 1936, designed, created and sold customized fur pieces for a broad range of customers, including Nashville country music stars, high-ranking military officers and patrons of premium department stores. Its 50th anniversary was chronicled by newspapers in Kentucky and throughout the region.
The business continued under Freeman’s leadership after Howard Freeman’s death in 1994 and until it was sold in 1997 to a North Carolina company. Freeman remained a consultant with the new owners until the fur shop was closed its doors in Hopkinsville in 2004.
Freeman balanced his civilian career with his 36 years of service with the Army Reserve, holding key assignments in the 100th Division (Training), responsible for training soldiers with tanks and other armored weapon systems. He was the division’s commanding general from 1991 to 1995.
His Army Reserve roles also included serving as commander of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 399th Regiment, 2nd Brigade; executive officer and later commander, 3rd Battalion, 399th Regiment, 2nd Brigade; deputy commander and commander, 2nd Brigade; chief, Opposing Force, Combat Division, Maneuver Training Command; and assistant division commander.
His active-duty Army service included U.S. Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, and Executive Officer, Company C, 14th Battalion, Special Training Regiment, Fort Knox, Kentucky.
“During his many years of service in the 100th Division, General Freeman continually provided exceptional leadership and guidance to the soldiers under his command,” reads his 2007 citation on the Corridor of the Century, the 100th Division Association of the Century’s wall of honor. “Under his command, the division experienced four years of exceptional success in all areas of measurement.”
Freeman, who retired from the Army Reserve in July 1995, remained active in community affairs, serving as chairman of the Fort Campbell Retiree Council, an organization that represents 55,000 area retirees and is responsible for providing the Army chief of staff and the installation commander with insight into vital issues concerning retirees.
Along with his brother, retired Army Col. Bobby Freeman, he helped recognize veterans who served in World War II. The brothers often helped transport the “Greatest Generation” soldiers to areas of the world where they served their country during that war.
Then, President George W. Bush, visiting Hopkinsville in 2005, invited Freeman to participate in a public forum on strengthening Social Security. During a lengthy exchange that received national media coverage, Bush thanked Freeman for his Army Reserve service and asked him to share his opinions on Social Security.
In addition to his skill as a furrier, Freeman was known for his sense of humor, being born on April Fool’s Day in 1937; his construction and mechanical skills, including building several of his own houses and reconstructing broken military vehicles; and his love of the outdoors, including his ranch in Utah that he shared with his brother, Bobby, and son, Morgan.
Freeman, a member of First United Methodist Church in Hopkinsville, is survived by his wife, Nancy Morgan Freeman; son Lindsay Morgan Freeman of Herriman, Utah; daughter Elizabeth (Jeff) Freeman Holland of Hopkinsville; brother Bobby Howard Freeman of Hopkinsville; and grandson Grayson Lindsay Holland of Hopkinsville.
Also surviving: His nieces, Allison Beck, Patricia Oppmann Beliles, Laurel Davis, Lisa Cato, Gil Roberts-Chinigo, Laura Rogers, and Linda Van Dyke; and his nephews, Michael Carr, John Esselstyn, Robert Freeman, William Freeman, Johnathon Morgan, Joshua Morgan, Andrew Oppmann, and Spencer Ripley; and several great-nieces and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by his father, Howard Marshall Freeman; his mother, Mary Elizabeth Marlowe Freeman; and sister, Anne Freeman Peace.
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