David Forgan Freeman ’40

Dave died July 4, 2004, "very peacefully in his ancestral summer home in St. Andrew's, New Brunswick, after only a few weeks of illness," according to his son, Francis '83.

He prepared at St. Mark's School, following his father, Halstead Gurnee Freeman 1903, as well as his grandfather, great-grandfather, and four uncles to Princeton. Dave majored in economics, graduating with honors and other prizes in the School of Public and International Affairs. He played freshman baseball and varsity squash, served as news and editorial editor of the Princeton-ian, and was a member of the Glee Club, Triangle Club, Executive Committee, SPIA Student Government, and Cloister Inn.

Dave's Navy service began in 1941 with assignments in Europe and the Pacific. He reached the rank of lieutenant commander and was awarded the Legion of Merit. He earned a law degree from Yale Law School in 1947. He was an executive with three philanthropic foundations: Fund for the Republic, Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In 1968, Dave became president of the Council on Foundations, a membership organization of grant makers. He belonged to the Princeton Club of New York City, was a trustee of Lingnan University in Hong Kong, and was director of the Oceanic Free Library.

He is survived by his five children: David Jr., Sims, Marion '73, John, and Francis. To them, his classmates offer sincere condolences.

The Class of 1940