A tribute to Theodore Freeman at Wings and Wheels

Theodore C. “Ted” Freeman, who grew up in Lewes and graduated from Lewes High School in 1948, lived a life cut too short.

Freeman, who was selected in the third group of NASA astronauts assigned to the Apollo program in 1963, died a year later in a tragic crash. He was only 34 years old. On Oct. 31, 1964, as he prepared to land in a NASA T-38 jet at Ellington Air Force Base in Houston, his canopy was struck by a large goose, and Plexiglass shards penetrated into the cockpit. After losing control of the jet, Freeman attempted to land but realized he was too close to military housing. He banked away and ejected, but his parachute did not open in time. Freeman’s funeral service in Houston and his burial at Arlington National Cemetery were attended by all 28 astronauts.

On Feb. 18, 2014, officials held a ceremony to honor Freeman as the namesake of the Theodore C. Freeman Powerplant Education Building as an expansion of the Aviation Maintenance Technology Program at Delaware Technical Community College at Delaware Coastal Airport.

During the 13th annual Wings and Wheels event Oct. 2, family members, elected and college officials, and a contingent from the U.S. Naval Academy parachute team, gathered in the education center to pay homage to Freeman. His daughter, Faith Johnson, and son Tyler, who live in Austin, Texas, attended the ceremony.

U.S. Naval Academy cadet and parachute team member Eric Lim said all of the team’s jumps will be in memory of Freeman. “He reminds us that we have large shoes to fill,” he said.

Freeman and his best friend Joe Hudson spent most of their teen years at the Rehoboth Airport and ended up working there. Freeman, who already had 450 hours of flying time, received his pilot’s license at the age of 16. He and Hudson worked as menhaden aerial fish spotters for the Otis Smith fish factories in Lewes.

After graduation from high school, Freeman went to the Naval Academy, graduating in 1953 and going on to earn a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Michigan. He had a distinguished career with the U.S. Air Force, attaining the rank of captain. He was a flight test engineer and instructor at bases in Texas, Nevada, the Pacific and California.

Being selected to the NASA astronaut program, he was in the company of famed astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Gordon Cooper, Alan Bean and Gene Cernan at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston.

He was honored in his hometown in 1965 with the naming of the Theodore C. Freeman Highway between Kings Highway and Cape Henlopen Drive in Lewes. A plaque and garden were dedicated in his memory at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal on June 18, 2014.

On Nov. 5, 2014, 50 years after his death, Freeman was honored at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at the Space Mirror Memorial.