photo courtesy of the St. Louis Post-DispatchJournalist, advocate and humanitarian Greg Freeman died on Dec. 31, 2002. He was pronounced dead at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, after he collapsed in his Central West End home. He was 46.
Freeman graduated from Washington University with a degree in Spanish in 1978. He was a prominent member of Student Life while at the university and served as the editor in chief during his junior year.
Even after graduating, he never quite left WU; from 1999-2001, he was the president of Washington University Student Media Inc. (WUSMI), the nonprofit organization that owns and publishes Student Life. He was serving as vice president at the time of his death.
Current WUSMI board president Mitch Margo remembers Freeman’s ability to reach a diverse group of people.
“The most amazing part of Greg’s personality was the way in which he did appeal to a broad cross-section of St. Louis and the different people that make up the region of St. Louis,” said Margo. “He was equally loved in the black community, the white community and the Hispanic community.”
In an attempt to explain this, Margo said, “Greg was gentle, but firm in his commitment to always do the right thing. Greg was a man you could rely on. He would never disappoint you.”
In addition to his board duties, Freeman was best known for his work as a columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He had written columns since 1992, although he had worked there as a reporter beginning in 1980. His editor, Richard Weiss, also remembered Freeman’s ability to influence a large variety of people. Weiss said this was exemplified by the diverse and substantial group of people that attended the services held for Freeman on the WU campus.
“There were so many people from so many different backgrounds in that tent that felt comfortable being there with him,” said Weiss. “All these people had so much appreciation for him.”
“His best qualities were his motivations-that he wanted to make the world a better place,” he said. “He was always constructive and positive about problems and issues in our community. He never took a cheap shot, and he never took advantage of a situation for his own benefit.”
Another co-worker at the Post-Dispatch, Bill McClellan, recalled Freeman’s benevolence.
“One of the things that I liked about Greg, and something that I find unusual, was that Greg never had a mean thing to say about anyone…even in general conversation,” said McClellan. “It’s really a reflection on how to live your life.”
Freeman also had a large following among his readers. After his death, many people submitted comments to commemorate Freeman on a special section of the Post-Dispatch Web site, www.stltoday.com.
One submission, written by Richard Callow, said, “Greg was a sweet and thoughtful man…. He was one of my earliest instructors in the virtues of St. Louis-and an invaluable and informative guide to the twists and turns of local politics. Over the years, he was alternately guide, scold, confessor, debate partner, shoulder and friend. I never knew him to say a mean thing about anyone. He will be very much missed.”
Freeman had been a long-time sufferer of medical problems prior to his death. He had received treatment for prostate cancer in 1999, was diagnosed with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy in 2000 and had received a kidney from his sister, Cheryl McKinney, in 2001.
His family has requested that in place of flowers, donations be made to any of three charities: Mid-America Transplant Association, the Muscular Dystrophy Association or Paraquad.