Changes

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">{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/NEWS01/711270322/1002/NEWS|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|title=News article on death of Mayor Freeman|date=November 27, 2007; no longer on-line.}}</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">{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071127/NEWS01/711270322/1002/NEWS|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|title=News article on death of Mayor Freeman|date=November 27, 2007; no longer on-line.}}</ref>​

==Background and political campaigns==

==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 a director for the Bank of Logansport and the president of his local Lions International. He was also a member of the town and parish [[Chamber of Commerce]], the Logansport Development Corporation, and Logansport Athletics Booster Club.<ref name=obit/>

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 a director for the Bank of Logansport and the president of his local Lions International. He was also a member of the town and parish [[Chamber of Commerce]], the Logansport Development Corporation, and Logansport Athletics Booster Club.<ref name=obit/>

Freeman was an officer of the Louisiana Municipal Association and a board member of the Sabine River Authority. 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.

Freeman was an officer of the Louisiana Municipal Association and a board member of the Sabine River Authority. 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==

Former Mayor Harold Cornett of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, recalls his former colleague as a "hard worker" who was well thought of in the community and throughout the state. "He was a great leader who never said 'no' to responsibility. He was just a good mayor, and Logansport, the state, and I will certainly miss him," said Cornett, who, as an honorary pallbearer, joined the mayors of Mansfield, Grand Cane, Stonewall, and Natchitoches as well as other elected officials and parish residents at Freeman's funeral.<ref name="The Shreveport Times"/> Some three hundred gathered at the First [[United Methodist]] Church in Logansport, where Freeman was a member and sang in the choir, to pay respects to a man noted for his personal "passion." The Reverend Kemper Smith said that Freeman was "passionate about what he believed. ... His determination served him well because he was a born leader." Daughter Pamela Kaye Freeman (born 1970) of Logansport addressed the mourners and read from a letter that Freeman's wife, the former Katherine Thomas, then seventeen, wrote to him in 1958:​ "I admire you for standing by what you think is right." Replied Pam Freeman: "Doesn't that sound familiar?" The Freemans were married for forty-six years. He was survived by two other daughters, Susan and husband Steve Simmons of Frisco, Texas, and Kathy and husband Billy Alger of Logansport, five grandchildren, and three brothers.<ref name="The Shreveport Times"/>

Former Mayor Harold Cornett of Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, recalls his former colleague as a "hard worker" who was well thought of in the community and throughout the state. "He was a great leader who never said 'no' to responsibility. He was just a good mayor, and Logansport, the state, and I will certainly miss him," said Cornett, who, as an honorary pallbearer, joined the mayors of Mansfield, Grand Cane, Stonewall, and Natchitoches as well as other elected officials and parish residents at Freeman's funeral.<ref name="The Shreveport Times"/> Some three hundred gathered at the First [[United Methodist]] Church in Logansport, where Freeman was a member and sang in the choir, to pay respects to a man noted for his personal "passion." The Reverend Kemper Smith said that Freeman was "passionate about what he believed. ... His determination served him well because he was a born leader." Daughter Pamela Kaye Freeman (born 1970) of Logansport addressed the mourners and read from a letter that Freeman's wife, the former Katherine Thomas, then seventeen, wrote to him in 1958:​ "I admire you for standing by what you think is right." Replied Pam Freeman: "Doesn't that sound familiar?" The Freemans were married for forty-six years. He was survived by two other daughters, Susan and husband Steve Simmons of Frisco, Texas, and Kathy and husband Billy Alger of Logansport, five grandchildren, and three brothers.<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 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>Louisiana Secretary of State, Voterportal.com, Katherine Freeman.</ref> succeeded her husband as mayor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/OBITUARIES01/801160355/1046/js07|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|title=Katherine Freeman succeeds husband as mayor of Logansport|date=January 16, 2008; no longer on line.}}</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 served from 2012 to 2016 as the chairman of the DeSoto Parish Democratic Executive Committee.

Freeman's wife Katherine (born November 14, 1940), a Democrat<ref>Katherine Freeman, Louisiana Secretary of State, Voterportal.com.</ref> succeeded her husband as mayor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080116/OBITUARIES01/801160355/1046/js07|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|title=Katherine Freeman succeeds husband as mayor of Logansport|date=January 16, 2008; no longer on line.}}</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 served from 2012 to 2016 as the chairman of the DeSoto Parish Democratic Executive Committee.

==References==

==References==