On January 26th, Captain Mark H. Freeman passed away from complications of pneumonia, leaving behind devastated friends and a long legacy of involvement, residency and entrepreneurship in Fremont and our surrounding maritime community.
Born on March 15, 1934, Mark grew up on the docks, helping the family businesses of O.H. ‘Doc’ and May Freeman. Mark began his storied tugboat career at the age of 8, pumping boats and deck handing on anything that floated. He purchased his first tug, the ‘Seal Rock’, at age 13 and began a patrol business on Puget Sound and Lake Union.
Mark attended B.F. Day Elementary, Hamilton Middle and Lincoln High Schools, in between tows and helping out at the marine supply store, ‘Doc Freeman’s’, legendary in Seattle. In spite of his natural talent as a captain, he attended the University of Washington for a few years, but nothing held his interest like tug boats.
Mark joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1955, stationed in Westport for four years. He was extremely proud of his work as Boatswains Mate second class, having been directly credited for saving 37 lives and countless vessels, earning the Coast Guard Commendation medal.
Returning to Seattle, Mark purchased Fremont Boat Company from his folks in 1959, maintaining the huge used boat brokerage (with towing on the side) with his mom after ‘Doc’ passed in 1963. He was a staunch believer in private property and the need for a working waterfront. He led the Lake Union Association to success in local and state politics.
In 1967, ‘sick and tired’, in his own words, of selling boats, Mark changed the operation to a marina and got serious about building the Fremont Tugboat Company. Soon after, he married and raised stepchildren Monty and Tracy, and fathered his son Captain Erik Freeman. He divorced in 1976.
Over the years following he built friendships, including one with a moorage customer who became his bookkeeper and, in 1984, his wife. The love of his life, Margaret ‘Margie’ Freeman became inseparable from Mark. The lovebirds worked and had fun together, daily crossing the Fremont cut from their floating home to their businesses.
Always proud of his son, Mark let Erik have control of a tugboat wheel starting at age 11. About 20 years ago, Mark stopped towing commercially and sold Fremont Tug to his son, Erik, and his best friend, Tom Bulson, who were proud to carry on the family legacy.
An avid photographer, Mark once took 5,000 photos a year, mostly of tugboats, of course. He always carried a camera, and the walls of his office were covered, floor to ceiling, with his framed photos of boats, recent and historic. Some of these photos, and a lot of history, were collected in Mark’s book, ‘Tugboats of Puget Sound,’ co-authored with Chuck Fowler.
Recently, Mark had begun a new venture, Mark Freeman’s Maritime Museum. Storing hundreds of thousands of photos, Mark ran a blog, collected artifacts and models, and built an unrivaled personal collection.
Mark also enjoyed conversation with friends, impromptu or with food, gathering around the office round table. He had a wonderful sense of humor, a warm smile, and a thousand sayings to fit just about any situation. He was also rarely wrong, with a sixth sense about people and business, serving as a mentor to many. With those he cared about, he sometimes gave advice not asked for, but in a delightful way.
A great man, an unsung leader, teacher, author and always a very hard worker, Mark was also a unique soul who knew where his compass pointed from an early age. With quiet perseverance, Mark never wavered, and he proudly celebrated the 100th anniversary of Fremont Boat Company last year. He said that all you needed to do to be a success in life was to be smart and work hard, but above all else to ‘be nice.’
Mark is survived by a loving yet bereft family who has appreciated the outpouring of condolences from his many friends. Mark didn’t want any services or celebrations, and his family has chosen to honor this wish. He did ask that his friends continue to have lunch or coffee together, keeping it meaningful in his honor. Find your own ways to ‘be nice.’ Fair winds and following seas, and see you over the next swell, Cap!
Read more about Captain Mark Freeman in his Seattle Times obituary.