Freeman George Henry

Freeman G. Henry, Professor Emeritus of French at the University of South Carolina, passed away peacefully on August 30, 2024, in Columbia, SC. Born on September 8, 1942, in Pontiac, Michigan, and raised in Mansfield, Ohio, Freeman proved the prophetic rhyme “Tuesday’s child is full of grace.” Full of refinement and elegance, he was an exceptional writer/scholar, a teacher, an editor, a translator, a published poet, and a beloved family man.

Freeman graduated from Madison High School in Mansfield, where he played both tennis and football. His love for language and literature led him to earn an M.A. from Washington State University in Pullman and a Ph.D. in French from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Throughout his distinguished academic career, Freeman taught at institutions in both the United States and France, including Washington State University, the University of Colorado, the University of Georgia, and Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris. He also spent many years as a beloved professor at the University of South Carolina, where he was known not only for his knowledge of the French language, history, and culture but also for the gentle humor and kindness he brought into the classroom.

He was the author of a number of books, including a 2013 historical novel The Quiet House on Rue Saint-Jacques, which brought to life the story of the Paris National Institute for the Deaf during the days of the French Revolution. Earlier, in 2009, he had written a scholarly study on a related subject entitled Forging Deaf Education in Nineteenth-Century France. He was also noted as the editor of a number of books in the FLS (French Literature Series), as the translator of the French coming-of-age novel The Caretakers by Bernard Mathias, and as the translator/adapter of Georges Grison’s The Heads That Fell in Paris.

Freeman was equally celebrated in his personal life. He greatly enjoyed preparing a meal and pairing it with good wines and was happiest cooking for family and friends, regaling them with elaborate tales from his youthful adventures across Europe and Mexico. To his grandchildren, however, he was less of a professor and wine connoisseur and more of a "tickle monster," a role he took quite seriously.

Freeman was preceded in death by his parents, Frederick Thomas Henry and Georgia Mary Vogel. He is survived by his loving wife, Jane; his daughter, Monica; her husband, David; his stepdaughter, Adele, and her husband, Austin; his brother, Ken Henry, and his wife, Dee; and his four grandchildren: Gillian, Finley, Adelaide, and Avalene. Freeman's legacy will continue not just through his scholarly contributions but through the laughter, stories, and love he shared with his family.

For all of his life, Freeman loved French literature and poetry, especially that of Charles Baudelaire. Perhaps the physical and intellectual voyages of his life can be summed up by these translated lines from Baudelaire’s “The Voyage”:

“But the true travelers are they who depart

For departure’s sake; with hearts light as balloons,

They never swerve from their destinies,

Saying continuously, without knowing why: “Let us go on!”

Memorial contributions may be made to American Red Cross, St. Jude, Pawmetto Lifeline.

A celebration of Freeman's life will take place at Dunbar Funeral Home, 7600 Woodrow St, Irmo, SC 29063 on Saturday, November 2nd at 2:00 pm.