Dr. Irving Freedman, 94 years of age, of Sandy Hook, CT, formally of South Windsor, Lebanon, Old Saybrook, and Estero, Florida, passed away on January 11. He was the beloved husband of Nancy (Woodwell) Freedman and the late Estelle (Simon) Freedman. He was the son of the late Arthur and Rose (Glass) Freedman.Born in Hartford on January 17, 1924, Irv was one of the last surviving members of the “Greatest Generation”. He graduated from Weaver High School in 1941 and attended Central Connecticut University until he began his U.S. Army active duty in 1943. Irv was a member of the 19th Ordnance Bomb Disposal Squadron until his discharge in 1945, which operated in the European theater after landing at Normandy on June 7, 1944. Following his military service, he attended and graduated from the Ohio College of Podiatric Medicine in Cleveland, now part of Kent State University. He also served in the CT National Guard for many years, retiring as a Colonel in 1993.Dr. Freedman had a successful private practice of podiatry in Hartford from 1949 through 1980. During that period, he was on the staff of the Newington Veterans Administration Hospital, Burgdorf Medical Clinic and was adjunct faculty at 5 podiatry colleges. He was a long-term member and chairman of the Connecticut Board of Podiatry Examiners. Dr. Freedman wrote many articles on podiatry and was a Fellow of the American Association of Hospital Podiatrists. Following the conclusion of his private practice in 1980, he became Chief Podiatrist and Director of Podiatry Residency Education at the Newington Veterans Hospital until he moved to Florida in 1992. Throughout his long tenure as a practicing podiatrist, his membership on the CT licensing board and his tenure at Newington VA, he mentored many of today’s podiatrists in Connecticut. Following his relocation to Florida, he became a consultant to the Veterans Administration Hospital in Fort Myers and treated patients into his eighties.Irv also was a long time member of the Democratic Town Committee in South Windsor, where he was elected to the School Board and became its Chairman. He was a lifelong Mason and recently a member of Hiram Lodge 18 in Sandy Hook. In addition to his wife Nancy, Irving is survived by his sons, Joel Freedman and his wife, Susan, of South Glastonbury, CT and Michael Freedman and his wife, Kathleen, of Somers, CT; his daughter, Courtney Nickel and her husband Christopher of Easton, CT; and his beloved grandchildren, Amy Freedman Lopenzo, Joshua Freedman, Sarah Scheidel and her husband Michael, Spencer Nickel, Olivia Nickel, and Finn Nickel. In addition to his first wife, Estelle, Irv was predeceased by his brother, Albert I. Freedman.
Funeral services will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 15, 2019, in the Chapel of the Weinstein Mortuary, 640 Farmington Ave., Hartford, CT with Rabbi Kari Tuling officiating. Interment will follow in the Hartford Mutual Society Cemetery, 80 Wolcott Road, East Granby, CT. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Disabled American Veterans. For further information, directions, or to sign the guest book for Irving, please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com/funerals.cfm
