Born in Greenwich, he was a son of Mr. and Mrs. William Goodell Freeman (Mary Fahnestock). Bill attended Brunswick School through ninth grade, graduated from Phillips Academy Andover in 1948, and received his bachelor’s degree from Yale in 1952. While at Andover and Yale, Bill made many lifelong friends whom he cherished.

 

An enthusiastic and proficient athlete, Bill was a member of the Andover varsity ice hockey team and the Yale varsity lacrosse team. Bill was also the team manager for the outstanding 1951-52 Yale men’s ice hockey team that placed third in the final round of the NCAA championship tournament, a championship now known as the Frozen Four. At Yale, he was a member of DKE fraternity and Wolf’s Head, and served on the board of the Phelps Association for many years.

 

After graduation from Yale, Bill served in the U.S. Air Force, from which he was honorably discharged as a first lieutenant. 

 

He then began a long career with Texaco, working in several positions including general manager of marketing, Europe. A highlight of his career at Texaco was when Bill, his wife, Ruth, and their three daughters lived in Puerto Rico and Jamaica. After leaving the Caribbean in 1970, the family settled in New Canaan. Upon retiring from Texaco, in 1988, Bill taught and coached ice hockey at Brunswick School for three years.

 

Bill enjoyed many outside interests and pursuits over the course of his life: fishing on Squam Lake, gardening, coaching boys’ hockey and serving on the board of the New Canaan Winter Club, and baking his famous chocolate chip cookies and buttermilk pancakes. He also served for a few years on the board of Keystone House. A member of the Country Club of New Canaan, where he served on the board, Bill was an enthusiastic golfer, also playing as much as possible at his Florida residence. He was a dedicated member of the Musketeers and the U.S. Seniors’ Golf Association. Bill and his wife especially enjoyed hosting dinners with friends, and traveling with family and friends to many countries.

 

Bill loved his family dearly, and will be greatly missed. Surviving are Mrs. Freeman (Ruth I. Mitchell), his wife of 60 years; three daughters, Ruth, Ann, and Carol; two grandsons, Stephen and William Schoder; a sister, Mary Blackwell; a brother, James Freeman; four nieces, and a nephew.