GREYDON CARL FREEMAN

Born: February 22, 1940
Died: Febuary 6, 2015

Grey Freeman was born in Hanover, New Hampshire, son of Greydon Carlos Freeman and Ethel Christina Lovgren Freeman. Grey graduated from Hanover High School.

At Yale Grey was a member of Pierson College and W1YU. He was manager of the Freshman swimming team and Varsity manager in 1962, earning his numerals and his major "Y." Grey was originally a Physics Honors major. However, he took some time off and, when he returned to Yale, switched to Engineering. He graduated in 1965, followed by a year in the Graduate School as a Carnegie Teaching Fellow.

"Saturated with book learning and intrigued by computers," he wrote in our 50th Reunion Book, "I bailed out of academics to work at the Yale Computer Center, a gig that ran for 18+ years." At the rapidly expanding Computer Center, Grey led a talented and devoted tech savvy team. He served as Director from 1970 to 1985.

Grey was one of two creators of the acclaimed academic computing system called BITNET, a precursor to the internet, used almost exclusively by academic and research institutions for many years.

After leaving the Yale Computer Center, Grey spent 20 years with The Gartner Group in Stamford as Vice President and Research Director. Most recently he was serving as Vice President of Research and Development for TicketNetwork.com.

Grey was an active member of the Woodbridge and Yale communities over the past five decades. He served on the Board of Directors of the Yale Club of New Haven, as Chair of the Woodbridge Library Commission, and as an Associate Fellow of Pierson College. He was a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, the IEEE Computer Society, the New Haven Country Club, the Kiawah Island Club, and the Yale Club of New York City.

Classmate Phil Moriarty paid tribute to their long friendship:

"Grey and his lovely wife, Marcie (nee Whitlock) and my wife Meredith and I were very, very close friends for 57 years. In the Fall of 1958, Grey and I were hall mates in Bingham and instantly became close buddies. Over the intervening years, 5 generations of the Freeman/Moriarty families have traveled and celebrated together.

"In my view, Grey was one of the leading tech gurus of our time. He was modest to a fault and always found time to delight in all manner of Yale events and in serving local community organizations in New Haven and Woodbridge, Connecticut.

"During college summers, Grey and I worked for my father, then the Yale swimming and diving coach, as lifeguards. Thus began Grey's love affair with the sport and his service as Manager of the Yale swim team our senior year. Generations of Yale swimmers and divers can thank Grey for designing and building the scoreboard used in the Ex-Pool for years.

"Grey's creative energies were in evidence each Christmas as he designed and built elaborate and fanciful playhouses for his 5 granddaughters."

Grey is survived by his wife Marcie, their 3 children, Jonathan (Rebecca Makkai) of Lake Forest, IL, Courtney Phillips (John) of San Anselmo, CA and Hunter Freeman of Raleigh, NC and 5 granddaughters, Sarah, Lucy, Alice, Lydia and Heidi.

In his 50th Reunion bio Grey emphasized his love of family. "The whole crew, children and grandchildren," he said, "still enjoys getting together with Marcie and me in Woodbridge each Christmas and at Kiawah every March, plus a couple recent mass gatherings at Disneyworld."

Grey died peacefully at home in Woodbridge on February 6, 2015. Phil Moriarty delivered the eulogy at the service, which was private at the family's request.