Roy Lynn Freeland

Roy Lynn Freeland passed away on June 11, 2020 at the age of 86 years old. Roy was born August 23, 1933 in Kansas City, Missouri to Ernest W. Freeland and Opal Marie Phillips. He is survived by his wife of 67 years Letitia Lynn (Hiestand) Freeland, daughters Lynnette M. Bartlett (Jim) of Bluefield WV and Jaqueline R. Freeland Gibbs (Craig) of Kansas City MO, son Jonathan R. Freeland (Hannah) of Kansas City MO, grand-daughters Loren E. Preston (Isaac) of Bluefield WV and Melissa C. Bartlett of Princeton WV, grandsons Justin Sokol (Nardia) of New York City NY, Jeremy R. Bartlett of Roanoke VA, and Christopher, Gabriel, and Phillip Freeland of Kansas City MO, his great-grandchildren Max Freeland-Sokol, Olivia Sokol, Mia Morris, and River Preston, plus many nieces and nephews.

He is preceded in death by his mother and father, brother Paul Freeland and his wife Edna Mae, brother Donald Freeland, and brother Earl Freeland and his wife Shirley.

Roy grew up in Kansas City and attended East High School. He served two years in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He attended Missouri State University – Springfield for his Bachelor’s degree and University of Missouri – Columbia for his Master’s degree in History. He was an educator for many years in the subjects of Civics, History, and Political Science, having taught in the North Kansas City public schools and later at the University of Tennessee – Martin. He later then worked as a Human Resources Specialist in several federal government agencies in St. Louis and Kansas City, MO.

Roy loved playing and coaching basketball. He enjoyed the music of Gene Autry, Roy Orbison, and Johnny Cash. He was a writer of poetry and short stories and also enjoyed trying his hand at carpentry. Roy followed politics closely and kept track of historical events through the years. He loved good discussions about history and current events. He also traced and recorded genealogy for the Freelands and Heistands. He loved playing board games with his family, playing croquet, and catching his family members by surprise with a good joke. Roy was a kind and soft-spoken man who valued family, the ideals of religious and political freedom and the right of humanity to proclaim those freedoms. He will be lovingly remembered by all those dear to him and all the countless others that he touched with his kindness, generosity and love.