Christopher Gray Freeman

Christopher Gray Freeman drowned January 28th, 2019 while digging for clams near Dowses Beach in the town of Osterville, Massachusetts. Chris was born at Toby Hospital in Wareham MA on December 14, 1959. He was the son of the Rev. Warren Gray Freeman and Charlotte

Van Auken Silbaugh. He spent most of his life on Cape Cod except for a few years when his family lived in Needham, MA and then in Manlius, N.Y. He graduated from Fayetteville-Manlius High School in 1978, lettering in gymnastics. Chris was an award- winning artist and craftsman, building two wooden canoes while still in high school. He attended Colgate University, Hamilton, N.Y. majoring in Fine Arts.

Chris returned to Cape Cod to live near his father and began shell fishing. He continued working as a commercial shellfisherman until his death. He proudly served on the Town of Barnstable Shellfish Committee. He had a keen interest in family history and pursued

genealogy in numerous ways. He visited many cemeteries where his ancestors were buried throughout

New England and in New York State. He often spent many hours at the Sturgis Genealogical Library on Main Street in Barnstable. Websites on the Internet were a great boon to his research. He exchanged information with numerous family members.

Chris loved the outdoors, gardening, skiing, hiking and camping. He owned land in Vermont and on Sandy Neck in MA. He also loved music, going to concerts and playing his own guitar. He enjoyed photography. He always talked about fishing and was very happy when he was awarded an aquaculture grant from the Town of Barnstable.

He is greatly missed by his sisters, Joanna (and Jack)

Bragen, Rändi Freeman (Bob Woods), niece Sara Freeman Omrani, nephew Ben Freeman, mother Charlotte and step-father Morgan. He is also mourned by his extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins and three step- brothers (David, John and Tim) and their families as well as his shellfishing family and friends.

The Rev. Morgan Silbaugh will conduct his Memorial Service June 19th at 10:30 in the Oak Grove Cemetery Chapel (46 Jones Road, Falmouth) followed immediately by Interment of his ashes in the Gray family plot next to his father who died in 2017. He will be remembered at another Memorial Service August 2nd during the Van Auken family reunion in Buffalo Wyoming.