Anne Freeman

1936 - 2025

Anne Helena Freeman passed away peacefully in Arvada, Colorado, surrounded by her family. During her illness she remained positive and always looked at the bright side - just as she lived every day. She was preceded in death by her parents Dorothea Monten and Barthold William Sorge, her brothers, James and William Sorge and her husband, Michael Freeman.

Anne was born in Los Angeles in 1936. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles for two years and then transferred to UC Berkeley to study landscape architecture, where she met her husband, Mike. They were married in 1959, and lived in married student housing while Mike finished his PhD and Anne worked as a city planner. Mike's profession took the family to Boston, Houston and finally to Lexington, Kentucky where he was a professor of mathematics at the University of Kentucky. Anne worked as a landscape architect for many years and continued her education by taking horticulture classes.

Anne was an active bridge player, member of the League of Women Voters, a foster care parent and an avid gardener. She also enjoyed camping, hiking and canoe racing.

Anne was thrilled when Mike took a sabbatical year at the University of Washington in 1977. She relished the chance to ski, sail, bike across the ferries, and dig for clams at the beach. Back in Kentucky, Anne became a realtor and also worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as an on call responder. Anne and Mike traveled the world, often with good friends from Lexington.

The West Coast was always calling her home, so when Mike retired they moved to Ridgefield, Washington close to where her parents had retired. In their late seventies, Anne and Mike hiked the entire Oregon Coast Trail in segments finishing at the California border. Anne started working out with a weight trainer in her eighties and walked a good portion of the Cherry Creek Trail in Denver.

Anne is survived by daughters, Lisa Taylor (Cliff) and Laura 'Laurie' James, sisters Joan Beck and Pari Sorge; and grandchildren Jack and Dean Taylor and Fionna, Olivia and Nadia James.