Obituary of Henry Freedman

It is with great sorrow that we wish to announce the passing of Mr. Henry Freedman of Leoville, SK, formally of Medstead, SK, on the 13th day of January 2013 at the age of 91 years. Henry Freedman passed away in his sleep in the morning of Sunday, January 13, 2013. He had been a resident of Evergreen Health Centre in Leoville since July 1st, 2013. Many people will remember Henry as the old soldier who would walk up and down the Medstead access road, weather permitting, until his health gave out on him a few years before his passing. He wanted to be remembered as a faithful soldier who finally made his way home into the arms of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Henry was born in 1921. He joined the British Army in 1940 and was stationed in North Africa where he drove a fuel truck for a regimen that was commissioned to chase the notorious German field Marshal Erwin Rommel – Desert Fox. The Army must have been either very forgiving at the time or desperate for a driver because Henry liked to tell the story of how he accidently drove the old fuel truck into a tree on his first outing. He often spoke of how hot it was in the deserts of Africa compared to our Saskatchewan winters. His many wartime reminiscences were recited as if they happened yesterday. It was there, in the hellish midst of World War II, that Henry became a man and he could never forget the gravity of that experience. When he retired from the British Army, Henry worked for a short time in England before coming to Canada where he took up residence in Montreal. Wanderlust became Henry’s great calling in his new homeland. He loved to travel on the bus and would purchase a ticket whenever he could to satiate his call to wander. He eventually ended up in Vancouver for a stretch before travelling back through the mountains to Calgary. He came out to Saskatchewan with a “family” of friends when they decided to immigrate to the Medstead area. Although he didn’t travel much on the bus after coming to this province, he loved to walk up and down the road to Medstead- a 7-mile round trip journey. What made this trek all the more amazing for a man in his late seventies and early eighties was that he did it with an artificial knee which he had installed a few weeks before he moved here. He was kindly thought of as Grandfather by the children he lived with over the past twenty years and they; Selena Summerville (Calgary, AB), Levi Joe (Eston, SK), Juanita Joe (Calgary, AB) and Soloman Rise (Medstead, SK) will sadly miss him. He was a very dear friend to his adopted family and both Bonnie Deuel and Josiah Rise will always remember him with the greatest of fondness. His funeral, a quiet graveside service, was held in Leoville on January 15, 2013. Arrangements entrusted to Brenda Beaulac of Beau “Lac” Funeral Home.