Donna Cook Freeman
died 2009-10-30
Services will be Friday morning near Sebastopol for Donna Cook Freeman, 72, a 1954 graduate of Tracy High School who became a successful business owner and widely known community leader in Bodega Bay.
She died Oct. 30 at home in Bodega Bay following a brief illness.
Mrs. Freeman, who retained close ties with Tracy friends over the years, was born April 18, 1937, in Hon, Ark. She and her family moved to Tracy in 1947, and she attended Tracy schools, graduating from Tracy High School in 1954.
She and Clarence “Junior” Freeman were married that same year. They moved to Bodega Bay in 1959, when Mr. Freeman became a commercial fisherman.
While raising her family, Mrs. Freeman worked in a number of fields, including selling real estate, operating a service station and working at Bodega Marine Laboratory.
In 1983, she and her husband began developing the Compass Rose, a forested, sloping ravine on a hillside in Bodega Bay, into a landscaped outdoor events facility. It became the scene of a wide range of events, including weddings, anniversaries, family reunions and political fundraisers. Mrs. Freeman designed and managed the facility.
During the past two decades, the Freemans hosted a number of reunions of Tracy High graduates of the 1950s at the Compass Rose.
“Her ties to Tracy were special for Mom,” said one of her two daughters, Melinda McLees. “She had fond memories of Tracy and her friends from her time growing up there.”
Over the past half-century, Mrs. Freeman became one of the most active and best known members of the Bodega Bay and western Sonoma County community.
In the early 1960s, she was active in a group that successfully opposed Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s plans to build a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head. She later served on the Coastal Commission’s advisory board for the local coastal plan.
After pushing for a benefit assessment to provide advanced paramedics to the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District, she was elected to the district board and served three years as president.
She was founding chairwoman of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival, president of the Bodega Bay Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Sonoma County Fair.
She also supported a number of political candidates over the years, hosting fundraisers at the Compass Rose, and served on the Democratic Party State Central Committee.
“She was very vibrant, vivacious and extraordinary,” McLees told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. “She never just settled for anything. She was fearless … just a golden spirit.”
Survivors include her husband, Clarence “Junior” Freeman of Bodega Bay; two daughters, Melinda McLees, and her husband, Jim, of Forestville and Melissa Freeman, and her companion, Don King, of Bodega Bay; three sons, Scott Freeman, and his wife, Maria, of Phoenix, and Kevin Freeman and Steve Freeman, and his wife, Janice, all of Bodega Bay; and seven grandchildren.
Also surviving Mrs. Freeman are a brother, James Cook, and a sister, Dorothy Cook Hewitt, both of Portland, Ore. Another sister, Mary Ann Cook, died earlier this year.
Friday’s services will begin at 11 a.m. at Hessel Church, 5060 Hessel Ave., off Highway 116 near Sebastopol. Burial will be in Bodega Cemetery.
Following the burial, relatives and friends will gather at the Compass Rose, at the corner of Eastshore Road and Bay Flat Road, in Bodega Bay.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Pleasant Hill Mortuary, 1700 Pleasant Hill Road, in Sebastopol.
The family prefers memorial contributions in Mrs. Freeman’s name be sent to Hospice by the Bay, 17 E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ste. 100, Larkspur 94939.
Donna Cook Freeman
She died Oct. 30 at home in Bodega Bay following a brief illness.
Mrs. Freeman, who retained close ties with Tracy friends over the years, was born April 18, 1937, in Hon, Ark. She and her family moved to Tracy in 1947, and she attended Tracy schools, graduating from Tracy High School in 1954.
She and Clarence “Junior” Freeman were married that same year. They moved to Bodega Bay in 1959, when Mr. Freeman became a commercial fisherman.
While raising her family, Mrs. Freeman worked in a number of fields, including selling real estate, operating a service station and working at Bodega Marine Laboratory.
In 1983, she and her husband began developing the Compass Rose, a forested, sloping ravine on a hillside in Bodega Bay, into a landscaped outdoor events facility. It became the scene of a wide range of events, including weddings, anniversaries, family reunions and political fundraisers. Mrs. Freeman designed and managed the facility.
During the past two decades, the Freemans hosted a number of reunions of Tracy High graduates of the 1950s at the Compass Rose.
“Her ties to Tracy were special for Mom,” said one of her two daughters, Melinda McLees. “She had fond memories of Tracy and her friends from her time growing up there.”
Over the past half-century, Mrs. Freeman became one of the most active and best known members of the Bodega Bay and western Sonoma County community.
In the early 1960s, she was active in a group that successfully opposed Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s plans to build a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head. She later served on the Coastal Commission’s advisory board for the local coastal plan.
After pushing for a benefit assessment to provide advanced paramedics to the Bodega Bay Fire Protection District, she was elected to the district board and served three years as president.
She was founding chairwoman of the Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival, president of the Bodega Bay Chamber of Commerce and a director of the Sonoma County Fair.
She also supported a number of political candidates over the years, hosting fundraisers at the Compass Rose, and served on the Democratic Party State Central Committee.
“She was very vibrant, vivacious and extraordinary,” McLees told the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. “She never just settled for anything. She was fearless … just a golden spirit.”
Survivors include her husband, Clarence “Junior” Freeman of Bodega Bay; two daughters, Melinda McLees, and her husband, Jim, of Forestville and Melissa Freeman, and her companion, Don King, of Bodega Bay; three sons, Scott Freeman, and his wife, Maria, of Phoenix, and Kevin Freeman and Steve Freeman, and his wife, Janice, all of Bodega Bay; and seven grandchildren.
Also surviving Mrs. Freeman are a brother, James Cook, and a sister, Dorothy Cook Hewitt, both of Portland, Ore. Another sister, Mary Ann Cook, died earlier this year.
Friday’s services will begin at 11 a.m. at Hessel Church, 5060 Hessel Ave., off Highway 116 near Sebastopol. Burial will be in Bodega Cemetery.
Following the burial, relatives and friends will gather at the Compass Rose, at the corner of Eastshore Road and Bay Flat Road, in Bodega Bay.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Pleasant Hill Mortuary, 1700 Pleasant Hill Road, in Sebastopol.
The family prefers memorial contributions in Mrs. Freeman’s name be sent to Hospice by the Bay, 17 E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ste. 100, Larkspur 94939.