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Obituary

Educator, trailblazer dies at 65

By CHRISTINA K. COSDON
Published September 24, 2005

CLEARWATER - Marion N. Freeman, one of the first African-American teachers at Clearwater High School, died Sunday (Sept. 18, 2005) at Mease Countryside Hospital, Safety Harbor. He was 65.

Mr. Freeman's promising teaching career ended suddenly in 1971 when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that left him crippled, legally blind and dependent on his wife of then-two years for financial support.

"He was a very inspired teacher; it was his great passion and joy," recalled Cosette Freeman, who cared for him for 18 years before they divorced in 1990. "He was very witty, very astute and had wonderful connections with his students."

Now living in Portland, Ore., Mrs. Freeman said her former husband worked quietly to erase racial barriers. "He did a lot on a very personal level to break down stereotypes that people had - just by the force of his personality and because of his intelligence," she said.

Mr. Freeman's sister said they were not raised to see race as a barrier. "He didn't acknowledge color; we weren't raised that way," said his sister Henrietta Williams of Clearwater. The youngest in the family of four children, Mrs. Williams said her brother, who was the eldest, taught her etiquette. "He taught me to be a lady," she said. "I thought he was the greatest."

Another sister, Gloria Bailey of Clearwater, said: "My brother is the reason we are successful. Our mother taught us to respect people and to be independent and self-sufficient, and he enforced it. Being a teacher, he was a serious person but also a playful person."

Mr. Freeman was valedictorian of the Pinellas High School Class of 1958, Clearwater's all-black high school before schools were desegregated in the 1960s. He received a full scholarship to Bethune-Cookman College and graduated in 1962 with degrees in political science and education. He taught sociology, civics and an Americanism vs. Communism class in the Miami school system. In 1963, he returned to Clearwater to teach at Pinellas High.

In 1966, he joined the staff of Clearwater High to teach social studies. His sisters said he was the first African-American teacher at Clearwater High..

Mr. Freeman transferred to Largo Junior High in 1968 and participated in a countywide teachers' strike that year that advocated for improved teaching conditions throughout the county school district.

In addition to his sisters, survivors include several nieces and nephews. A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 1 at Mount Carmel Baptist Church, 1014 Pennsylvania Ave., Clearwater, followed by refreshments in the building behind the church.

[Last modified September 24, 2005, 01:00:22]