 |
 |
|
 |
||
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Wednesday,
July 24, 2002 - 12:55 a.m. Pacific
Family remembers man killed on bicycle By Michael
Ko
|
|
|
|
|||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||
On July 14, at 7:30 a.m., the Freunds and a friend embarked on a Sunday-morning bicycle ride on the Sammamish River Trail. They began at Marymoor Park in Redmond and traveled north to a little bridge at Wilmot Gateway Park in Woodinville.
About 9 a.m., they encountered three riders coming in the opposite direction. One wobbled and crashed directly in front of them. George Freund hit him, flew over the handlebars and struck the pavement headfirst.
Despite wearing a helmet, he was knocked unconscious. He never awoke from a coma. Dr. George Freund Jr., an engineer who worked in defense and space research for Boeing, died Saturday (July 20) at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle of brain damage. He was 55 and lived in Renton.
Yesterday, Dr. Freund's funeral was held at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Renton, where relatives welcomed guests with Irish music. He was remembered as a devoted father of four and a serious, intelligent scientist whose consistent trait was his curiosity.
"It was very much part of his nature," said Patricia Freund, his wife of 32 years. "He was always reading, always researching and interested in all kinds of things, how things worked and why things happened."
Born April 21, 1947, in Dubuque, Iowa, Dr. Freund served in the Army for two years and attended Loras College, a Catholic school in Dubuque. He met Patricia there, and they married in 1970.
"He was interested in so many things," Patricia Freund said. "It's hard to resist a man who's so interested in you and what you think and say."
Dr. Freund attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he earned a doctorate in physics. He obtained work right away with Boeing's Wichita, Kan., office.
He was transferred to Boeing Field in the Seattle area 12 years ago. He moved to South King County, where he became a member of the Liturgical Committee at St. Anthony church.
Dr. Freund enjoyed running, hiking and music. He packed two tall towers in his house with compact discs — classical, jazz, Irish music and bluegrass.
He rode bikes through college and started up again a few years ago as a leisure activity, his wife said. They had ridden the Sammamish River Trail many times.
Patricia Freund said the crash was an accident. Police are not investigating.
"I don't know if there would have been anything that could have prevented it, especially on a nice family trail," she said.
"People walk there, skate there, it's so much fun, it's such a great thing to do. Everybody just has to be careful and cautious."
She said she's grateful to the strangers on the trail who helped her husband before he was airlifted to the hospital. One man drove her and her friend back to Marymoor Park to get her car.
Dr. Freund also is survived by three sons, Paul and Michael of Seattle and James of Renton; a daughter, Rachel of Renton; his parents, George and Lillian Freund of Dubuque; his brothers, John and Tom, both of Dubuque; and his sisters, Margaret Conlon and Catherine Triervieler, both of Dubuque, Mary Wagner of Decorah, Iowa, and Teresa Freund of Milwaukee.
Michael Ko: 206-515-5653 or mko@seattletimes.com.