Thomas Michael Freehill

Thomas Michael Freehill passed into eternal life on the evening of September 16,2026, at Kaiser Fremont Hospital after an extended illness with his family at his side. He was 89. Tom was born in Bloomington, Illinois, the eldest child of Claude P. and Marjorie Bergan Freehill of Melvin and grew up in Melvin on the family farm. He was born into a large family of farmers and teachers, and his early years of education were in rural one-room schools. He attended Melvin Sibley High School where he excelled in basketball and baseball. He attended St. Joseph College in Rensselaer, Indiana and was a member of the baseball team playing middle infield. He began his career in education teaching history at St. Teresa High School in Decatur, Illinois. He was also the head coach for baseball and assisted in basketball and football. It was there he met his future wife Barbara Jahoda who was also teaching at the time. At age 24 he was stricken with rheumatoid arthritis which resulted in his moving to the warmer weather of Phoenix, Arizona, where he lived for the next 54 years. In 1966 he married Barbara Jahoda of Decatur. They were blessed with one child, Michael. Tom’s plans in secondary education changed when he became the assistant director of migrant education at the Dysarthria District, west of Phoenix. He was then made principal of El Mirage Elem. School and remained in elementary education the rest of his career. He then became part of the Glendale Elem. District where he opened the new Glendale American School which introduced the new open-concept school. Tom earned higher education master’s degrees in administration from both Illinois State and Arizona State University. He was an active member of Arizona School Administrators and the National Association of Elementary School Principals, serving as state representative for several years which entailed meeting with Arizona’s Senators and Representatives each summer in Washington, DC. In an active retirement, he evaluated student teachers for ASU West and recruited new teachers for the Glendale Elem. District. He was very involved with Glendale Kiwanis, leading the Reading Is Fundamental program for years. Besides his 35 years as an educational leader and beloved principal, Tom leaves a legacy of founding the Mensendick Basketball Tournament, the state’s largest annual tournament for junior high boys and girls. He organized, ran, and worked at the six-week tournament every night for 35 years. The Arizona Parks and Recreation Assoc. named him the Volunteer of the Year in 2004. He also received the Everyday Hero Award from the city of Phoenix. Tom was a tremendous sports fan. He experienced the birth of all three major sports franchises in Phoenix and ardently followed each. Tom and Barb shared season tickets to the Ariz. Diamondbacks from its first year until they moved into Senior Living near Ann Arbor, Mich. to be near family and be part of their two grandchildren’s lives. Tom’s passion was following the sporting career of son Michael all through grade and high school, and then baseball through college, and finally for several years in professional baseball, visiting numerous ballparks all over the nation. After two and a half years in Michigan, Tom and Barb followed Mike, Karein, Lizzie, and Jack to the Bay Area of California. He was so passionate and thrilled to be following his two grandchildren Elizabeth (Lizzie) and Jack. Lizzie shared his love of reading and the West Wing television series. Her academic and extra-curricular accomplishments and accolades brought him tremendous pride. Following the sports of grandson Jack brought him tremendous joy early on playing basketball, flag football and baseball. Despite being confined to a wheelchair, he never missed one game in the four years of Jack’s high school career as an outstanding player in both football (quarterback) and baseball (shortstop). He is survived by his wife Barbara, son Dr. Michael T. Freehill, and his wife Karein of San Francisco, grandchildren Lizzie (Lehigh University), and Jack (Columbia University), sister Anne Zick (John) of Hinsdale, IL; brothers Al (Jane), Madison, WI, and Dale, Fort Lauderdale, FL; sisters-in-law Doris Freehill and Joyce Freehill of Gibson City, IL; twelve nieces and nephews, nineteen grand nieces and nephews, eight great nieces and nephews, plus many cousins. He is preceded in death by two brothers, a niece and nephew, and a grand niece. A celebration of life will be held on November 21, 2026 in Gibson City, IL, with a funeral Mass at 11:00 in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church with burial after in St. Rose Cemetery, Strawn. A catered lunch will follow at the Countryside Event Center in Gibson City. Memorials: Glendale Kiwanis Reading is Fundamental % Yvonne Knaack. , 5413 W. Whispering Wind Dr., Glendale, AZ 85310