Richard was born in Chicago on March 5, 1941, the son of Richard James and Mary Eaton Freeman.  It has been said that Rich inherited his ability to sing with that memorable deep bass voice from his father.  Richard's sense of humor kept the rest of the family entertained, and in that, he changed little, even during his later years.

Richard grew up in Park Forest and graduated from Rich Township High School in 1959.  At 6'4" he was a member of the basketball team.  He developed a fine singing voice at Faith United Church in Park Forest.  He studied music at Maryville College, but left before graduation to audition for the Robert Shaw Chorale.  Later he studied English literature at Arizona State University.

In 1978, Richard spoke of his conversion to Catholicism, saying that it was due to the fine expressions of Church teaching by Jesuit Father John Hardon.  He was also attracted to the Catholic Faith by the beautiful music which is so much a part of the traditional celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  In the late 1980s, when Resurrectionist Father C. Frank Phillips started to emphasize those elements of both doctrine and liturgy at St. John Cantius parish in Chicago, Richard began attending those masses regularly and also participated as a member of the choir.

He had always seen the value of the human life, and became active in pro-life groups, Rich helped to organize and participated in hundreds of demonstrations against abortion and all facets of the abortion culture.

Rich's expertise was as a sidewalk counselor.  He could be found in front of an abortion mill on a Saturday, trying to talk women into choosing life for their babies.  Rich was instrumental in helping to promote and perfect a method of sidewalk counseling called the Chicago Method.  He used information on malpractice lawsuits and other scandals against Chicago area abortion mills as a life saving device to turn abortion bound mothers away.  They were then directed to nearby pro-life crisis pregnancy centers where they could find real help and alternatives to abortion.  He was a big influence on people in the pro-life movement, particularly sidewalk counselors

In those days, Richard lived with his parents in Park Forest and his supportive presence enhanced their lives up until their deaths.  His father died in 1995, and it was at this point that his mother purchased three gravesites at Skyline Cemetery in Monee, Illinois, not far from their home in Park Forest.  When Mary Eaton Freeman died in 1999, Rich saw to it that she was buried in another of those sites.

Also, during the 1990s, when the Latin Mass was established on Saturday evenings at the Carmelite Monastery in Munster, Indiana, Rich started to attend Mass there, and also joined the choir.  This Mass became near and dear to Rich in the later stages of his life.  He was seriously disappointed when it was discontinued in 2018.

As the years went by, it became more difficult for Rich to keep up with the needed maintenance on the house in Park Forest, so Rich accepted the generous invitation from Larry Heintz and his sister Madeline Giammarese to move into their home in Lansing.  After Madeline died in 2015, Rich continued to live there.

The year 2016 was particularly joyous for Richard, as he had been a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team for most of his life.  That was the year when the Cubs won the World Series.  However, in December 2016, Rich had some breathing problems and Larry had to call for an ambulance.  Rich was taken to Munster Community Hospital and, after surgery, was kept in an induced coma for most of January 2017.  That was followed by a series of placements in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and hospitals until October 2022.

It was because of a series of gastrointestinal, heart, and lymphedema problems that nursing personnel at St. James Manor in Crete sent Richard to Franciscan hospital in Olympia Fields on Sunday, October 2, 2022.  Consistent with documents which he had previously signed, he refused surgery.  He died at 2:45 p.m. on Monday, October 3.

We will all remember him as a loving, spiritual, and compassionate human being.   His funeral was held at St. Michael's Byzantine Catholic Church in Merrillville, Indiana, on October 10, and he was buried in the family plot at Skyline Cemetery in Monee, Illinois.