Dennis Freeman, Classification Refresher
Posted by Vi Hughes on Jan 11, 2017
We were treated on Tuesday to a refresher by one of our long time Rotarians, Dennis Freeman, on his life, work and interests, which are many indeed. Dennis has been a Rotarian since 1995, and thanked Bill Skelly for introducing him to Rotary. He has held many different positions with in the club over the years, and he has changed occupations many times since joining, so his official classification has changed several times, and even his current one, Safety Clothing, is not up to date. In this way, he joins many other Rotarians, with his entrepreneurial spirit.
Dennis was born in Medicine Hat, the oldest of nine children. His father’s family were Latvian immigrants and his mother’s family were English immigrants. His father loved hunting and fishing so he instilled in Dennis a love for the outdoors that he still has, to this day. His talk was accompanied by a number of very good close up bird photos taken by Dennis over the years, and at the end of his talk Dennis could name every one of them.
He remembered his childhood fondly, with many anecdotes of growing up in a large family. He did not like it when his mother had another child as she would then be absent from home for at least a week and they had to rely on his father’s lousy cooking, until she came home again. He spent his childhood in an old Victorian era home that winter literally blew through, and remembers well his pajamas freezing to the wall behind him at night. He spent his time running around the neighbourhood doing the usual boyhood things like raiding gardens and riding the back bumpers of cars and buses. He says he was never caught, as he was a really fast runner. He loved hiking and fishing, enjoyed singing and even did some acting in high school. He once begged to sing at a high school function, in order to impress a certain girl, and then very embarrassingly forgot all the words once he got up on stage. As a young man he wanted to be a minister, a Mountie, and also aspired to being Jewish, as he was fascinated by the Synagogue that was across the alley from his home.
Dennis was an entrepreneur from an early age and had many odd jobs as a child and young man, from delivering papers to painting, and lifeguarding to pumping gas. He later worked as a radio announcer, TV announcer, a retail salesman at Woodwards and Sears, and then as a property manager. He then moved on with his own company selling Safety clothing. He has held many volunteer positions over the years, from Rotary committees and church boards to local community leagues, and the property manager’s association. He joked that he currently now holds the volunteer position of chief vacuum wielder at home. In addition to Rotary, Dennis currently enjoys camping, hiking, golfing, bird watching/ photography and spending time with family. His sense of humour and humility, as demonstrated by his ability to take a good-natured ribbing, which happened several times throughout his talk, make him a really nice person to know and a valuable member of our Rotary club.
Dennis Freeman