Freeman dies in helicopter crash

Friday, Dec. 15, 2006

Joshua M. Freeman, a prominent Olney businessman and philanthropist, died Thursday night in a helicopter crash in Delaware.

The pilot, a 30-year-old woman from Richmond, Va., was also killed. Her identity has not been released.

Freeman, 42, was the president and chief executive office of Carl M. Freeman Companies, an organization founded by his father, the late Carl M. Freeman, and based in Olney.

‘‘Carl M. Freeman Companies is shocked and saddened by the tragic loss of its president and CEO, Joshua M. Freeman,” according to a statement from company officials. ‘‘Josh will be deeply missed by all who were fortunate enough to experience his tremendous generosity, leadership and friendship,”

The company has developed, redeveloped or manages several projects in the area, including the Rock Creek Village Center in Aspen Hill and the recently renovated Olney Village Center.

The company purchased the adjacent Olney Town Center shopping center in 2004, and has been working with the Olney Master Plan’s Town Center Advisory Group to redevelop the center to create a new, thriving downtown area for the community.

The company also manages and develops properties in Virginia, West Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Delaware.

Freeman was returning to the area from a holiday party at one of his properties, the Bear Trap Dunes golf club in Ocean View, Del.

It is not clear if the dense fog played a role in the crash, which occurred in a field off Route 26 in Dagsboro. Shortly before the crash, the National Weather Service issued a dense fog advisory for the area, which means visibility may have been reduced to less than one-quarter mile.

Cpl. Jeffrey Whitmarsh of the Delaware State Police said that at the time of the crash ‘‘it was just about dark and was foggy in the area.”

Whitmarsh said a landowner had called police at about 5 p.m. to report that a helicopter had landed in his field.

‘‘When the trooper responded, the pilot explained that she was waiting for a client, and had landed there because it was clearer than where she had planned to land,” he said. ‘‘The property owner was OK with that, and allowed her to remain on his property.”

The helicopter took off at about 6 p.m. and crashed about 15 minutes later, only about a quarter-mile from the field.

Freeman will be remembered for his generosity. As chairman of the Carl M. Freeman Foundation, he provided financial support for dozens of community organizations and events, including the Olney Boys and Girls Club, B’nai Shalom of Olney, Our House, the National Players of the Olney Theatre for the Arts and the Carol Jean Cancer Foundation.

The foundation also offers grants to small volunteer organizations that might not seek or qualify for larger grants.

Because of his generosity and commitment to the community, Freeman received the Howard J. Garber Olney Citizen of the Year Award by the Greater Olney Civic Association (GOCA) for 2003.

‘‘Josh was a superb community-builder who made a huge contribution to the Olney community in general and to many community-based organizations and events,” Ron Berger, GOCA Awards chairman, said. ‘‘He was a most unusual businessman whose leadership and personal commitment was focused on making the community in which he lived and was raising his family a better place for all of us.”

Freeman spent most of his life on the family’s 432-acre Brookeville farm, Tusculum.

He was enrolled in the Harvard Business School Owner⁄President Management Program and held an honorary degree from Montgomery College. He is a graduate of Landon School and served for three years as a Green Beret in the United States Army Special Forces.

In 1998, a car accident in New Mexico took his father’s life and critically injured his mother, Virginia Freeman.

Freeman leaves behind his wife, Michelle; three children, Nicholas, Benjamin and Juliana; his mother; and three sisters.

Information regarding funeral or memorial services was not available.