Dr. David A. Freedman

DR. DAVID A. FREEDMAN, M.D. professor emeritus of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, died at his home on April 17, from cancer. Born May 27, 1918, in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of E.Philip Freedman and Mary Davidoff Freedman, Dr. Freedman graduated from Harvard College (1939) and received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine (1943). Entering the Medical Corps immediately, he served with the 2nd Cavalry Recon Squadron, attached to various Corps in the 2nd and later the 3rd Army. Arriving in Normandy one month after D Day, he ran a field hospital station, taking part in the Allied fight across Europe, until the end of World War II. His service included being the first American doctor to enter Flossenberg Concentration Camp, and he was discharged with the rank of Captain, Medical Corps, AUS. On his return to the States, he met and married his first wife, the former Charlotte Sylvia Levy; and did a neurology residency at Montefiore Hospital. In 1947, with his wife and first child, he moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, to undertake a psychiatry residency at Tulane University Medical School, and subsequently held appointments as Associate Professor of Neurology at Tulane (1954-1965), and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at L.S.U. School of Medicine (1969-1974). Later her became interested in, and trained as a psychoanalyst, with the then Washington/New Orleans Psychoanalytic Institute. From 1963 to 1976 he served as Training and Supervising Analyst at the New Orleans Psychoanalytic Institute. In 1965, he moved to Houston to become affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry & Behavior Sciences, holding professorships of both Psychiatry and Neurology. Along with Drs. Robert Gilliland and Robert White, he became one of the founders of the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Institute, serving as President of same from 1978 to 1982. He also served as president of the Houston Psychiatric Society (1975) and the Houston-Galveston Psychoanalytic Society (1978-1980). In 1991 he retired from Baylor, maintaining a private practice until 1999, thereafter providing residents' supervision until illness prevented. Author of over 100 professional articles, essays, and book reviews, in 1997 Dr. Freedman published his first book On Infancy & Toddlerhood: An Elementary Textbook, and has also written an as-yet unpublished monograph entitled Obsessiveness: A Parameter of Adaptation. When asked about unusual circumstances of his life, he often recounted having been present at three medical graduations: his father's (also a psychiatrist), his own, and that of his youngest son Michael, a Baylor Medical School graduate in neurology. Dr. Freedman is survived by his widow, the former Beryl Donnath; four children by his first wife: Theodore (Lynn) of New York, Seth (Rhonda) of Houston, Emily (Gerald Pollack) of Seattle, WA and Michael (Marianne) of Albuquerque, NM; 11 grandchildren; E.J. and Moss Freedman, Megan, Rebecca and Zachary Freedman, Yuki and Erika Miyagiwa, and Joshua, Charlotte, Seth and Ben Freedman; and 2 great-grandchildren, Asa and Zelda Freedman. Also surviving are sister-in-law Constance D. Friedman and longtime family friend Verna L. Muse. Funeral services will be held Sunday, April 21st, 2002 at 3:00 P.M. in the Kagan-Rudy Chapel at Emanu El Memorial Park, 8341 Bissonnet St. In memory of Dr. Freedman, contributions may be made to a charity of your choice.