Tribute to a legend

Almost 100 friends and relatives paid their respects and farewells to

Dick Freeman, one of the toughest grid lineman to play for Newport

Harbor High in the ‘40s, last week at Pacific Hills in Corona del

Mar.

Freeman, Class of ‘45, who made second-team All-CIF in 1944 and

was a sophomore tackle reserve on the championship ’42 Harbor High

football team, played under the late Wendell Pickens and the late Les

Miller.

Joe Muniz, a starting blocking back on the ’44 team, remembered

Freeman “as one of the toughest guys around. He loved football and he

played with intensity.”

Muniz and Freeman left the ’44 team before the season ended after

the Navy called them both into World War II service. Freeman was

initially drawn into the Navy hospital in San Diego for recovery from

an ailment and missed a call from the Navy head coach at Annapolis,

who had hopes of pulling him into the Navy football machine. The

timing was bad.

Sportswriters of the day felt it would have lined Freeman up once

again with the future Heisman Trophy winner named Glenn Davis of

Army, one he remembered well from Bonita High’s ’42 CIF battle with

Harbor High in the CIF final.

Meanwhile, Muniz subsequently wound up in Japan and came to

observe the aftermath of the atomic bomb’s impact on Nagasaki.

After the war, Freeman surprised many old friends by entering the

surfboard business. Muniz recalled that Freeman “was a very friendly

person and made friends easily.” Hence, he was a good salesman.

Unfortunately, Freeman encountered a number of serious medical

problems in earlier years but had a good record of combating

setbacks.

Muniz said he was once injured badly in a motorcycle accident and

it left him crippled. “That left him with a limp,” he said.

Muniz said he was pleased to see a number of old Newport High

athletes attending the funeral services, including ’44 tackle Jim

Douglas and fullback Bill Van Horn; ’44 All-CIF basketball star Bud

Attridge, basketball ace Jules Marshall and gridder Horace Silva.

Freeman had been battling pneumonia for five weeks at Hoag

Hospital “before his heart just gave out,” said Douglas, who had

grown up with him out of Newport Grammar School.

“We used to surf together, pursuing the best waves along the

coast, and now I like to think that Dick has found that perfect wave,

with a ride all the way to heaven.”

Freeman is survived by his widow, Jan, and two daughters, Leslie

and Jill.

*

Recent talk of old nicknames from Harbor High days, has prompted a

flow of numerous others that drew interest in the old days.

Few ever knew where “Gino” Boero, 1949-51 guard, got the nickname

of “Speedy.” Although, it faded in the passing of years, Boero said

the moniker came from his father, “Papa” Gino.

He may have weighed 240 pounds as an outstanding guard for Al

Irwin, but many felt he was fairly quick on the gridiron.

It brought amusement to “Papa” Gino.

Grid fans used to wonder why people started calling Edwin Hanson,

a ’46 guard, “Doc,” a name that has endured over the years.

“Glasses,” Boero replied. “Hanson had always been wearing glasses

and friends figured that “only doctors wear glasses,” Boero added.

Ed Meyer, who helped lead Orange Coast to a ’51 grid title at

tackle, was once called “Shakey Jake.”

A former teammate, Ted Trompeter, recalled with a laugh that it

started with him. Meyer, who often gave Trompeter a ride, had a

faulty clutch that finally prompted Trompeter to call him “Shakey

Jake” since the auto would shake.

They called ’47 center Armando Monaco “Army” and ’49 tackle Bob

Van Drimlen “Dribble,” but those faded in time.