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Freedman, a longtime Milwaukee resident, was the founding chairman and former president and chief executive officer of Enesco Group Inc., the global gift and collectibles company based in Itasca, Ill.
Freedman died unexpectedly Feb. 19 in Hawaii, where he had a second home.
Born in Philadelphia, Freedman moved with his family to Milwaukee, where he grew up. He attended Northwestern University and the California Institute of Technology. He was a World War II veteran.
In the late 1940s he became a salesman for a Milwaukee-based gift and novelty company. He later opened his own manufacturing and distribution company, which became Freedman-Mathews Corp. In 1958 he resigned to become one of the founders of Enesco.
Rick Freedman said his dad had an “eye for design” and keen instincts that made him a natural fit in the gift and collectibles industry.
That’s how Freedman recognized that Samuel J. Butcher’s two-dimensional art on greeting cards could become a success as porcelain figurines, Rick Freedman said.
Freedman retired from the gift business in 2005 but he consulted for small gift companies until his death. Even at 82, “work charged his battery,” his son said.
Eugene Freedman also poured his time and money into philanthropy.
“Gene maybe stood about 5 foot 7, but he was a giant of a man,” said Roxanne Spillett, president and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, of which Freedman was a board member. “He was a kind and gentle soul and he lived his life in a great way — not just to be successful as a businessman, but to give back to society.”
Freedman is survived by his wife, Ruth; daughters, Penny and Nancy; son, Richard; sister, Frances; one granddaughter and numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun in River Hills. Interment at Greenwood Cemetery in Milwaukee will follow.
