Freda Segal

Freda Segal

September 1, 1924–May 16, 2026

Having spent her first 26 years in Canada, Freda arrived in California in 1950 to marry Harry Segal who had left Montreal the year before to join his expat cousins in Los Angeles so he could work, save money, and have Freda join him. For the next 54 years with Harry, and a bonus 22 years, living with her son’s family for the last 15, Freda created a legacy that exemplified love, wisdom, and resilience.

Freda was born to Hyman and Annie Steinberg in Drummondville, Quebec, Canada, about 3 hours by train from Montreal (in the 1920s). Sadly, at the age of 1, with her two older sisters Annette, 5, and Rita, 3, her mother Annie died from influenza, and her father brought his girls back to Montreal. There he remarried soon after, thanks to a matchmaker, and Violet Zeman became the girls stepmother and brought up Freda as her own. Freda told her children Lee and Steven, and later her grandchildren Scott, Jasper, Abby, and Hannah, wonderful stories of her childhood–riding on the back of of a horse drawn wagon weighed down by blocks of ice to cool off in the summer time, skiing down Mount Royal in the center of Montreal, seeing Frank Sinatra perform when she was a teen, and becoming a bookkeeper and teaching secretarial and accounting skills in the same business school she had attended. She left behind Montreal friends and family to become an Angeleno and made new life-long friends and had a rich and varied life.

Freda and Harry raised their two boys to be athletic, artistic, and independent. Freda was the one to keep lines of communication open. During the tumultuous 60s and 70s, their sons expressed their political, cultural, and societal opinions. Non-judgemental and supportive, Freda stood proudly with her sons, and together the family remained devoted to each other and connected. When her kids were grown, she and Harry traveled to Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Mendocino County, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Colorado, and Providence and Newport, Rhode Island, to continue to be an integral part of their children’s and grandchildren’s lives. Additionally, she kept her two older grandchildren for long summer stays in their home in Cathedral City near Palm Springs, where she and Harry retired to live, make new friends, and play a lot of golf. From 1985 to Harry’s death in 2004, Freda always stayed active in their desert community where she tutored elementary school students weekly for 14 years, was secretary to the senior citizen community counsel for many years, and learned computer skills to organize the counsel’s bookkeeping and calendar. Freda’s need to be of service to others continued after she returned to Los Angeles to live with her son’s family by assisting her grandchildren Abby and Hannah with school, volunteering at the nearby library book sales, and attending the senior center to teach mah jong to a host of younger women (who were in their 70s and 80s).

Freda was predeceased by her sisters Annette and Rita, and is survived by her children Lee (Irene), Steven (Shauna), grandchildren Scott (Shelly), Jasper (Leah), Abigail, and Hannah, great grandchildren Ben and Margo, her dear nieces Anne and Doreen, nephew Leonard, and many loving friends. Her family is grateful and blessed for having her in their lives for so many years.