His funeral service will be held on Friday, February 24th, at 10:30am in the sanctuary of Peachtree Road United Methodist Church, located at: 3180 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30305. His viewing will precede the service that morning, and will also be conducted in the sanctuary, beginning at 9. His burial will follow the funeral, and will be conducted that afternoon at 1:30, at the Georgia National Military Cemetery located at: 1080 Scott Hudgens Drive, Canton, GA 30114.
Born in Washington, DC on January 21, 1936, to Mr. James Newton Buck Freeman, ESQ. and Mrs. Lillian Perry at the Columbia Hospital for Women, he was raised in Mount Airy, NC, where he was a Boy Scout. He graduated from Mount Airy High School with the class of 1954, completing his high school course work early to enlist in the United States Navy in 1953. He then received an appointment to attend the United States Naval Academy (class of 1958), from United States Congressman Ralph Scott of the Fifth Congressional District for North Carolina.
Upon graduation from USNA with a Bachelor of Science, he entered flight school in Pensacola, where he trained in multiple aircraft, including the T-34 and T28. Upon becoming a Naval Aviator on March 04, 1960, he served in Patrol Squadron 40 (VP-40, Crew 5), at Naval Station Sangley Point in the Philippines, where he was a pilot and ordnance officer on a Martin P5M Marlin float plane, conducting air patrols during the Vietnam War. He was later a Patrol Plane Commander. He also attended Military Justice training, and received the National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and the Cold War Service Medal, among other awards. It was during his time in the Navy, that he met his beloved wife, of 52 years, Martha Anne Kemp on St. Simons Island, GA in 1963, and married on January 29th, 1965, at Northside United Methodist Church in Atlanta.
Upon his medical retirement from the Navy, Mr. Freeman attended law school at the University of North Carolina, during which time his first two sons were born in Chapel Hill. Upon graduation on June 2nd, 1969, he became licensed to practice law in both North Carolina and Georgia, electing to move to Atlanta to join Haas, Holland, Levison & Gilbert. He then started a successful sole proprietorship, Richard C. Freeman III, PC, where he pracitced law for over 40 years, specializing in complex business litigation. During this time, he became well known in the area for his keen wit, compelling storytelling abilities, courtroom tenacity and dedication to his clients, with cases throughout local, state and federal courts, including: Georgia Court of Appeals, Supreme Court of Georgia, United States Court of Appeals (Fifth, Eighth and Eleventh Circuits) and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. He was also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court.
When not practicing law, he was a devoted husband and father, spending as much time as he could with his family, including his kids’ sporting events and activities, and numerous family trips, as well as an annual family vacation to Sanibel Island, FL. He also enjoyed watching Navy football, Tar Heel basketball, and Braves baseball, and reading the Sunday Comics.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Mrs. Anne Kemp Freeman, brother, James Newton Freeman, Jr., his sons, Richard Columbus Freeman, IV., Stephen Kemp Freeman and Duncan Perry Freeman, his daughters-in-law, Karen Marie Freeman, Cynthia Sanders Freeman and Rachel LaRue Freeman, and four grandchildren: Stella Ann Freeman, Calista Marie Freeman, Duncan Perry Freeman, II., and Parker LaRue Freeman, as well as numerous cousins, nephews and nieces. He will be sorely missed.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18