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Steve Stephens of Logansport said that his friend Freeman did a "magnificent job and will be sorely missed. ... Dennis understood problems and knew how to get things done in government. His death is a loss for this community and this area." Near the end of his life as he fought [[cancer]], Freeman was also attempting to mitigate the closure of a Georgia Pacific plywood plant, the largest employer in Logansport. He worked with state and local agencies to help displaced workers and to procure solutions to the economic gap created from the loss of the plant.<ref name="The Shreveport Times">[http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/NEWS01/711270322/1002/NEWS The Shreveport Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
Steve Stephens of Logansport said that his friend Freeman did a "magnificent job and will be sorely missed. ... Dennis understood problems and knew how to get things done in government. His death is a loss for this community and this area." Near the end of his life as he fought [[cancer]], Freeman was also attempting to mitigate the closure of a Georgia Pacific plywood plant, the largest employer in Logansport. He worked with state and local agencies to help displaced workers and to procure solutions to the economic gap created from the loss of the plant.<ref name="The Shreveport Times">[http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/NEWS01/711270322/1002/NEWS The Shreveport Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Background==
==Background and political campaigns==
Freeman was the youngest of six sons born to L. L. Freeman and Britt Annie Freeman in Joaquin in Shelby County in east Texas, located across the Louisiana line from Logansport. He graduated from [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] and earned his livelihood for nearly forty years as an independent [[insurance]] agent. As Logansport mayor, he worked to procure grants for water, streets, sanitary sewers, parks and local government operations. He was an officer of the Louisiana Municipal Association and a board member of the Sabine River Authority. He was a director for the Bank of Logansport.<ref name="Legacy.com Secure Server"/>
Freeman was the youngest of six sons born to L. L. Freeman and Britt Annie Freeman in Joaquin in Shelby County in east Texas, located across the Louisiana line from Logansport. He graduated from [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] and earned his livelihood for nearly forty years as an independent [[insurance]] agent. As Logansport mayor, he worked to procure grants for water, streets, sanitary sewers, parks and local government operations. He was an officer of the Louisiana Municipal Association and a board member of the Sabine River Authority. He was a director for the Bank of Logansport.<ref name="Legacy.com Secure Server"/>
Freeman was charter president of his local Lions International, [[Chamber of Commerce]], the Logansport Development Corporation, and Logansport Athletics Booster Club. He was active in the DeSoto Parish Chamber of Commerce.
Freeman was charter president of his local Lions International, [[Chamber of Commerce]], the Logansport Development Corporation, and Logansport Athletics Booster Club. He was active in the DeSoto Parish Chamber of Commerce.
Elected as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in 1984, 1988, and 1992, Freeman switched parties and won thereafter as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] in 1996, 2000, and 2004. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Louisiana House of Representatives in District 7 in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007, even though he had been undergoing treatment for the cancer that took his life a month later. He received 1,427 votes (11 percent), having finished last in a five-candidate field. The seat, which covers all of DeSoto and ten precincts of adjoining Caddo Parish, went to another Republican, [[Richard Burford]] of Stonewall]], the easy winner of the November 17 [[general election]]. Burford is a former three-term member of the DeSoto Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body. Had Freeman been elected, he would not have lived to have taken the seat on January 14, 2008. Burford gave up the seat in 2016 in an unsuccessful bid in 2015 for the Louisiana State Senate.
Elected as a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] in 1984, 1988, and 1992, Freeman switched parties and won thereafter as a [[Republican Party|Republican]] in 1996, 2000, and 2004. He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the Louisiana House of Representatives in District 7 in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 20, 2007, even though he had been undergoing treatment for the cancer that took his life a month later. He received 1,427 votes (11 percent), having finished last in a five-candidate field. The seat, which covers all of DeSoto and ten precincts of adjoining Caddo Parish, went to another Republican, [[Richard Burford]] of Stonewall]], the easy winner of the November 17 [[general election]]. Burford is a former three-term member of the DeSoto Parish Police Jury, the parish governing body. Had Freeman been elected, he would not have lived to have taken the seat on January 14, 2008. Burford gave up the seat in 2016 in an unsuccessful bid in 2015 for the Louisiana State Senate.
==Legacy==
==Legacy==
Freeman is interred in Logansport Cemetery located near the riverfront. His marker reads "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." The riverfront had been an unattractive briar thicket until Freeman directed its renovation. Now, it is a welcoming entrance off U.S. Highway 84 into Louisiana from Texas. It has a terraced landscape, veterans' memorial, walking paths, gazebo, picnic tables, and a pavilion, mostly financed from grants and private donations.<ref name="The Shreveport Times"/>
Freeman is interred in Logansport Cemetery located near the riverfront. His marker reads "To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord." The riverfront had been an unattractive briar thicket until Freeman directed its renovation. Now, it is a welcoming entrance off U.S. Highway 84 into Louisiana from Texas. It has a terraced landscape, veterans' memorial, walking paths, gazebo, picnic tables, and a pavilion, mostly financed from grants and private donations.<ref name="The Shreveport Times"/>
Freeman's wife Katherine (born November 14, 1940), a Democrat<ref>{{cite web|url=http://voterportal.sos.la.gov/home.aspx?galogin=voter |title=Katherine Freeman, November 1940 |publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State |accessdate=September 12, 2014 }}</ref> succeeded her husband as mayor.<ref>[http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/OBITUARIES01/801160355/1046/js07 The Shreveport Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Mrs. Freeman is listed among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection bid in 2014 of Democratic [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thehayride.com/2014/09/landrieus-gop-endorsements-pale-in-comparison-to-2008-election/|title=Landrieu’s GOP Endorsements Pale In Comparison To 2008 Election|publisher=Thehayride.com|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> Freeman's grandson, Thomas "Bryce" Alger, was the chairman of the DeSoto Parish Democratic Executive Committee from 2012 to 2016.
Freeman's wife Katherine (born November 14, 1940), a Democrat<ref>{{cite web|url=http://voterportal.sos.la.gov/home.aspx?galogin=voter |title=Katherine Freeman, November 1940 |publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State |accessdate=September 12, 2014 }}</ref> succeeded her husband as mayor.<ref>[http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/OBITUARIES01/801160355/1046/js07 The Shreveport Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Mrs. Freeman is listed among the state and local officials who endorsed the unsuccessful reelection bid in 2014 of Democratic [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://thehayride.com/2014/09/landrieus-gop-endorsements-pale-in-comparison-to-2008-election/|title=Landrieu’s GOP Endorsements Pale In Comparison To 2008 Election|publisher=Thehayride.com|accessdate=September 12, 2014}}</ref> Freeman's grandson, Thomas "Bryce" Alger, was the chairman of the DeSoto Parish Democratic Executive Committee from 2012 to 2016.
==References==
==References==
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