Reece, if you read this please get ahold of me by E-mail or phone as soon as you can. My phone number at work is (989)345-6541 Mon-Fri 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM and I have voice mail there.

He was enthusiastic and loved life and people. I remember he told me he worked for Sho-Bud for years and that he gave Paul Franklin his very first steel guitar lesson. He said Paul and his Father were both amazingly talented people.

I bought one of his Cougar Slidemaster 6 string pedal steels and I absolutely love it.

He impacted the lives of many, myself included, because of his positive attitude, personality and unselfishness to give of himself to those whom he called friend.

Regina and I will be attending the grave side services tomorrow in Fairview, Michigan. I hope that all who knew him will attend his services if at all possible.

We will miss him!

Bob Mainwaring. Vancouver Island.B.C. Canada.

I will be getting with Evelyn and L.T. to schedule a benefit jam for Freeman's family in the near future. I will post the date in the Events & Announcement section for all concerned.

Freeman was born January 12, 1933 which makes him 69 1/2 years of age at the time of his passing. He had been in good health all his life up until June 2002. He was a military veteran. He was inducted into the Michigan Steel Guitar Hall of Fame in April 2000. He has built steel guitars for approximately the past 30 years. The basic E9th steel guitar starter course he developed many years ago was probably the first of its kind on the market and for quite some time was made available by MSA to the purchasers of their steel guitars. Freeman was skilled as a machinist, cabinet maker, mechanic, designer, pilot, and believe it or not a plumber, as well as being a talented musician who had worked with a number of big-name performers. His life somewhat resembles that of Shot Jackson in the sense that whatever needed to be done, he generally had a knack for it. Welding, painting, wiring, organizing an event, whatever the task, Freeman could handle it well.

He sincerely cared for other people and was very much involved in his rural community; for example he started and directed the Coats For Kids program in the Fairview-Comins area as well as being influential in several other local programs. He enjoyed children and they enjoyed him. He was acquainted with many people and had friends throughout the nation and in other countries as well. Although perhaps not financially "well-off", he was rich beyond measure in many other ways.

Those wishing to send cards of sympathy, memorial contributions, etc. may address them in care of Karen Wicks, P.O. Box 64, Comins MI 48619 USA.

As a footnote here, it should be stated that Freeman made every effort to fill his Cougar steel guitar orders during the final weeks of his life. He did the very best he could. It is the desire of Freeman's son and concerned members of the Michigan Steel Guitar Club that no Cougar steel guitar purchaser be "left hanging" for a pre-paid order. We are currently aware of one such unfilled order. If there is any other customer who has paid in advance to order a new Cougar steel and is currently awaiting delivery of the instrument, you are requested to contact Danny Hullihen of Harrison Music/Jagwire String Co. as soon as possible to exchange information so that the matter can be taken care of in a timely fashion. Danny is a frequent participant in this forum and has posted above.

I have considered him to be my friend for the
past several years since purchasing my
beautiful steel from him. His stated goal was
to produce a quality product for a reasonable
price. The low price allowed me to upgrade to
a higher level instrument than I had thought
possible.

We collaborated on several occasions when he
was seeking equipment and developing his
website. I shall miss this gentleman very
much, and feel blessed to have known him.