Wes Freeland, 81

Wesley Kenneth Freeland, age 81, of Kalamazoo, passed away March 22, 2023 at North Woods Village in Kalamazoo. He was born October 28, 1941 in Sturgis, son of the late Kenneth and Rolene (Binkley) Freeland.

Wes grew up in and around Sturgis, a city he loved and took great pride in, especially his grandparents’ companies, Freeland Boat Company and Steel Tanking Company. As a young boy, he worked at his mom and dad’s store, Freeland’s Hardware. He loved fishing on Klinger Lake with his dog, Clickey, trips to the Upper Peninsula with his parents and his sister, Sharon, baseball and ice skating. Unknown to Wes later in life he would discover a new favorite sport, hockey, when he became a grandpa to Adam.

In 1962, Wes married Char Sayles. They had two children, Lisa Marie and Tim. He moved the family to Marquette to attend Northern Michigan University. He later transferred to Western Michigan University where he graduated with a major in business administration. He then started his illustrious career working for Kalamazoo County where he worked in various positions leading up to the Kalamazoo County Administrator. Following his retirement he served as a advisor to the President of the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.

Wes was known as a man who was very family-oriented. After he divorced Char, he continued his many trips to the UP with Tim and Lisa Marie. Knowing how much the kids loved it, they made every weekend trips to Wes’s parents, Ken and Rolene’s home in Sturgis, building lasting happy memories for his family.

In 1970, Wes married Annmarie Price. They lived with their dogs on a 30 acre farm in Oshtemo where Wes spent his time gardening, growing grapes to make grape wine, traveling to the UP and, on weekends, taking Annmarie shopping for her beloved books. When she became ill, for several years Wes took good care of Annmarie making sure she was comfortable until she passed in 2019.

Wes was a deer hunter until later in life. One day while at the Oshtemo farm, he told Lisa he knew she didn’t like hunting and over the years had taught him why. He said to her “I am going to start taking shots of animals with my Ol’ Nikon instead of with my ol’ gun”. Anyone who knew Wes knew his love of the camera, a passion he continued through his life. He took thousands of pictures over the years of nature, waterfalls, wild animals, and anything that struck him. Whenever anyone saw Wes, they would see his camera with him, always ready for the next perfect shot.

Later in life Wes found a new favorite sport, when he had followed his grandson Adam’s career playing hockey from 1994-2008 and beyond. He rarely missed a game, often photographing Adam and his teammates. A friend of Wes’s recently commented, “Wes couldn’t have been a more proud grandfather than when he was with Adam. I had numerous conversations with Wes as his grandson grew and matured into the kind man he is today.” Wes was highly honored when Adam graduated WMU, just as he did and just has honored when Adam became a photojournalist as his career.

Wes developed many close friendships over the years, particularly his special buddies Erik, Tom, Chris, Jimmy, Duane, Ray, Warren and Bob. He had a special camping group with Chris, Erik, Ray and Warren, calling themselves The Nut Hut. He often stayed with friends Jim and Linda at The Big Paw Up North. But, best friend status was reserved for his childhood friend, Nancy Donovan. They had known each other since grade school, then worked together for the county. As Nancy’s health deteriorated Wes cared for her until he was not able to any longer, as his own health was declining. Nancy passed in 2022.

He often visited his son Tim, in Allegan, where they would hike together, take photos and enjoy the nature that surrounded him, often hunting for morel mushrooms. Later in life, when Wes could no longer visit Tim because of his health, he kept in touch with Tim by talking and texting. Tim never failed to send his dad pictures of the same trails they had hiked together on, putting a big smile on his dad’s face. The day before Wes’s passing, Tim visited one of their old hiking trails and texted a picture of it to Wes.

After retiring he became a woodworker and created hundreds of fish down in his workshop while smoking his pipe, listening to the radio, often hearing his favorite song “Kodachrome”. Taking appreciation for the different types of wood and photographing each step of the way while crafting each fish with its own special characteristics. He never sold any, he loved giving them away,

As Wes began to struggle with memory loss, Lisa Marie took care of him by staying close to his side. She made sure he continued to do his favorite things: collecting leaves, taking pictures and going to lunch with Adam and his girlfriend, Sarah. Wes was known for his annual blueberry trips to Paw Paw, where he would buy hundreds of pounds which he gave to friends and neighbors. Lisa Marie and Adam made sure he continued that love up until his passing. He also enjoyed to shop collecting his Pilot pens, sticky note pads, grapes and oranges and picking out toys for his grand dog, Kacey Mocha. Doing these activities and sharing past memories together naturally brought them even closer together. Lisa always made sure he was happy and felt as important as he was all his life.

His nieces and nephews were always meaningful to Wes. Patrice, one of his six nephews and nieces whom he adored, never failed to email Wes, every time asking, “How’s my favorite Unc?”

He is survived by his children: Lisa Marie Tabor of Three Rivers and Timothy Kenneth Freeland of Grand Junction; grandson: Adam (Sarah Kelly) Tabor of Detroit and granddog: Kacey Mocha.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife: Annmarie; sister: Sharon Linder; brother: Norman Freeland; dear friend: Nancy Donovan and his dog: Lilly.

In accordance with his wishes cremation has taken place. A celebration of life will be held from 1:00 to 6:00 on Sunday, June 4th at the John E. Fetzer Center, 2251 Business Court, Kalamazoo.

The Hackman Family Funeral Homes of Sturgis is entrusted with the arrangements.

Memorial donations would be appreciated to the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve, County Rd Kk, Big Bay, MI 49808 , Animal Rescue Fund, P.O. Box 593, Centreville, MI 49032.

We encourage relatives and friends to share memories and condolences at www.hackmanfamilyfuneralhomes.com.