Ward Freese’s career was “diverse and distinguished,” according to his family. After being stationed in Montauk with the Air Force and falling in love with the area, he moved to East Hampton when he was honorably discharged and worked as a caretaker at the Sea Spray Inn here and Bayberry Close in Amagansett.
He ran a company that installed aluminum siding and windows, worked for Frank B. Smith Lumber, which later became Riverhead Building Supply, served as the personal pilot to the owner of the Sea Spray, and was an East Hampton Town assessor and consumer affairs investigator for Suffolk County.
And if his career was diverse, so were his interests. He was a “passionate pilot, dedicated sailor, and enthusiastic member of barbershop and Sweet Adelines quartets,” his family wrote. He sang with the Whalers Barber Shop Chorus in Sag Harbor and had also been a president of the Kiwanis Club of East Hampton. “Ward’s interests reflected his love for life and its pleasures,” his obituary on the Seawinds Funeral Home website said.
Mr. Freese died on Aug. 25 at Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Fla. He was 94 and “will be remembered for his warmth, dedication to his community, and unwavering love for his family.”
Born in New Brunswick, N.J., on Dec. 4, 1929, to Alfred Wilmurt Freese and the former Claire Estelle Dahmer, he grew up there and in Highland Park, N.J. He attended New Brunswick High School and the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point before serving in the Air Force from 1951 to 1955. Among his military honors were the National Defense Service Medal and the Good Conduct Medal.
He and Judith Ann Lens were married on Dec. 8, 1956. They lived in East Hampton from 1956 to 1992, raising their children here, and eventually retired to Sebastian, Fla. He was a member of the Friendship Christian Community Church there.
His wife survives, as do two children, William Freese of Johns Creek, Ga., and Susan Freese Salaver of Sebastian, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Two sons, Scott Freese and Kenneth Freese, died before him.
A service will be held at a later date. His family has suggested a donation in his memory to a charity of choice.
