Michael Rudolph Freeland

Michael Rudolph Freeland, 94, of Hopkinsville, died at 4:20 a.m., Tuesday, December 4, 2018 at Tennova Healthcare - Clarksville.

Celebration of Life services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Thursday, December 6, 2018 at Grace Episcopal Church with Rev. Alice Nichols officiating. Visitation at the church from 10 until time for service.

A native of Henry County, Tennessee, he was born May 14, 1924 to the late Mason Noel Freeland and Wilby Lee Murphy. Mr. Freeland served in the US Army 82nd Airborne as a combat medic during the Battle of the Bulge. He also served on the beaches of Normandy after the Normandy landing. He was an adjunct professor at Austin Peay State University where he taught basic public speaking and interpersonal communication.

In 1963, he established the first independent full-time FM stereo radio station in McKenzie, Tenn., which was the first of its kind east of the Mississippi River. He was also a writer and author of Blood River to Berlin, The World War II Journal of an Army Medic, Journal, Time and The River, To Teach To Love and Homeplace. He was a member of First United Methodist Church of Hopkinsville.

Survivors include: his wife, Flora Ellen Freeland of Hopkinsville, KY; his sons; Michael R. Freeland, Jr. of Spearfish SD, Douglas Lee (Debbie) Freeland of Jackson, TN, David Elmore (Donna) Freeland of Pikeville, KY; his daughters, Cynthia Grey Symington of Cornelius, NC, Patricia Sharon (Patrick) Poe of Nashville, TN; his brother, Jim W. Freeland of Benton, KY; his sister, Eva Lane Freeland Whitmer, Buchanan, TN; his grandchildren, Aimee Symington (George) Husakiwsky of Davidson, NC, Patrick Mason (Margaret) Poe of Atlanta, GA, Melissa Ellen Poe (Evans) Hood of Nashville, TN, Jessie David (Chelsea) Freeland of Nashville, TN, John H. Noel (Shellie) Freeland of Greenbrier, TN, Andrew Thomas Freeland of Cape Girardeau, MO, Lindsay Katherine Freeland, LeGrand, OR, Graham Lucas (Rose) Freeland of Missoula, MT, Ashley Gail Freeland (Adam) Pratt of Jackson, TN, Tyler Lee Freeland of Chattanooga, TN; great-grandchildren, Emma Larissa Husakiwsky, Luke Mason Husakiwsky, James Montgomery Hood, Amelia Ellen Hood, Abigail Emory Hood, Alden Michael Hood, Shyann Lynn Freeland, Jaycee Dean Freeland, Alice Boling Poe, Patrick Mason Field Poe, Aspen Marie Freeland. He was preceded in death by his parents and a son, Stephen Allen Freeland.