Muriel Leopold Freeman

FREEMAN--Muriel Leopold, January 2, 1917--March 15, 2008. Author, sportswoman and philanthropist passed away at home in New York City on March 15, 2008. Muriel Freeman was born on January 2, 1917 to Mildred and Arthur Leopold in Woodmere, Long Island. She graduated from Wilson College where she was head of the equestrian team and regularly competed at the National Horse show at Madison Square Garden. Muriel was married to Bunny Freeman on September 17, 1937 until his untimely passing in 1972 at 55 years old. He was an avid golfer and encouraged her to take up the sport. During the 1950s, 60s and 70s, she won the Women's Long Island Golf championship seven times, The Cross County Championship five times, the Women's Metropolitan Championship once and was the New York State Championship medalist in 1957. During the 1960s and 70s, she became more involved in the dog show world. In the 1980s Muriel was the first non-German and first woman to judge the Rottweiler Bundesieger in Germany--considered to be the pinnacle in Rottweiler knowledge--and would do it again a few years later. She also traveled extensively, judging at prestigious dog shows all over the world. Muriel Freeman was best known in recent years for her extraordinary knowledge of working and herding dogs. In 1984, she wrote The Complete Rottweiler. It is in its 26th edition and has sold more volumes than any single breed dog book. It was required reading for new AKC judges working with larger breeds. In 1989, she judged Best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club Show at Madison Square Garden--considered to be pinnacle of the U.S. dog world by the cognoscenti. As part of her interest in dogs, Muriel Freeman worked with and endowed many significant studies at the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School and the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) to define and limit hip dysplasia and the other diseases that strike larger dog breeds. Muriel Freeman passed away at her home in New York City on March 15 leaving her son James and daughter-in-law Laura, three grandchildren, Rebecca Freeman, Hadley Lehrman and Jim Freeman, grandsonin-law Gary Lehrman, two great-grandchildren, Jacob and Andrew Lehrman, and her closest friend Dorothy Collier. Friends and family are invited to the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, 1076 Madison Avenue, Tuesday evening from 5:00-7:30 pm. The funeral will be Wednesday at 11:30 am. In lieu of flowers, donations to The University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School would be appreciated.