Welcome to our series, #WHYoming
We are highlighting people from around our communities and asking them a few questions. We want to learn a little about them and see why they chose this great state to raise their families, start their businesses, or simply to ask — Why Wyoming?
This month, we talked to Green River’s John Freeman, a retired teacher, former state legislator, and the driving force behind the Green River Greenbelt Task Force, who represents the fifth generation of his family to call Sweetwater County home.
Tell us a little about yourself
My family has been in Sweetwater County since the 1890s. I can show you the former gate to the family plot sitting in my front yard right now. When they bury me, it will be the fifth generation in Rock Springs Cemetery. I am the only heretic who moved 15 miles west to Green River.
My wife, Theresa, and I have been together 52 years and married about 48 years this year. We have three sons: Michael, Matthew and Sean. Theresa taught reading for 40 years in Green River. To her students and their parents, I was always “Mr. Theresa Freeman.” I owe a lot of my career to her, and I am proud of that title.
You grew up partly in California. How did you end up back in Wyoming?
My dad was born in a little mining camp near Hudson, but he spent almost his whole life in Rock Springs. He went off to World War II, came back and took advantage of the G.I. Bill, and like a lot of graduates, he could not find a job in Wyoming when he finished at UW. He ended up in Idaho, met my mom, a woman from Kansas, and I popped out.
We were sentenced to seven years in California, right outside of San Francisco. It was actually a perfect place to grow up if you were going to be a social studies teacher in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Vietnam protests, the farmworkers’ strikes, all of it was happening right in front of you, firsthand.
When my dad got a job back in Rock Springs my senior year of high school, I decided to go with him. I wanted some roots. I went to Western, which was one of the two best educational experiences of my life. I never really left after that.
What brought you specifically to Green River?
Theresa got a job in this school district, and I did not want her on the road. Honestly, I also wanted 25 minutes a day to decompress from teaching.
When I was in college, I came back to Rock Springs during the boom and it was drugs, sex and rock and roll. Every Wednesday night, the Green River Parks Department had open volleyball, and my friends and I would drive over to play instead of going to the bars. Green River just stuck with me.
Theresa and I moved here in 1978. In the summer of 1981, we built this house ourselves, with my father and my good friend Ron Tucker. I put on the roof. It has been home ever since.
You taught for 33 years. What were some of the highlights?
The first 23 years at the alternative school were the best job I ever had. When they built a new building with the college, it became Black Butte. I was one of the first hires. Small class sizes. You got to put together the curriculum, the policies, all of it from scratch.
One thing that made the alternative school different was that for a long time, we did not have a school counselor. Instead, AHS students were divided among the teachers as advisor groups. I took that seriously. My advisor group never lost a volleyball game, and more importantly, they had a very high graduation rate.
We were right on Western’s campus, so we could look at each kid’s strengths and get them into classes before they graduated. Welding, math, English, you name it. I was always passionate about that idea. I later pushed it forward as a trustee at Western.
For about 10 years, I took a small group of AHS students to the Wyoming Legislature each session. We would spend three days there learning the process. In that time, I had the chance to introduce my students to three Wyoming governors. One of those trips gave me a story I will never forget.
I had a student named Tom Fleming and he walked right up to Gov. Jim Geringer and asked him if he could sit at his desk and put his feet up on top of it. The governor declined. About 15 years later, I ran into Gov. Geringer at a conference. He remembered me, remembered the request, and with a big smile on his face asked how Tom turned out. I told him Tom had graduated, stayed in Wyoming, found a job, and even helped me with my campaign. The governor was pleased with my report.
I also spent four years at Rock Springs High School and finished out my 33 years before working nine more at Western Wyoming Community College. Between teaching and public service, I stayed busy.
One of the nicest compliments I ever received was when I was teaching at the alternative school. There was a kid who had a great big button on his chest that just said self-destruct, and he kept pushing it. He did something foolish, and I went to the head teacher about it. The head teacher told me he wanted to kick the kid out, but that John Freeman was not done with him yet, that I still thought he had hope.
I always appreciated that. It sounds silly, but it is true. People rise to what you expect of them.
You served 10 years in the Wyoming Legislature. What did that look like?
I represented House District 60. I was on the Education Committee for all 10 years, and that is where I had the most influence. I was also on Travel, Recreation, Wildlife and Cultural Resources for eight years, and on the Management Council for eight years. On top of that, I served six years as a trustee at Western.
I remember leaving for my first session in the legislature and coming back to find a kid who told me I was his favorite teacher, but that he did not see me very much. That told me I needed an arrangement where I was not shortchanging my students. Public service has to fit around the people counting on you, not the other way around.
Tell us about the Greenbelt Task Force
The Greenbelt had been talked about for 30 years before I ever heard of it. I was on the Sweetwater County outdoor recreation board when Mayor Richard Waggener and Councilwoman Bonnie Pendleton came and asked for an endorsement of open space along the Green River. We debated it across two meetings, about four hours total, and it came to a vote of six to one against. I was on the right side of that vote.
When we walked out, a good friend told me flatly that there would never be a Green Belt along the Green River. My response was not printable, but the short version is that I disagreed.
I waited seven or eight years. The idea finally got some traction, and the city council appointed Roger Mollendorf and me to explore it. Shortly after that, we had a nonprofit going. I try not to take too much credit. Roger Mollendorf, Roger Harris, Rejuna Clark, those people did tremendous work. Ron Tucker, who helped me build this house, was right there too. And Tom Wilson made me look real good with the Skyline Trail. It is always a team effort. I have been fortunate to work with some fantastic people.
You also coached youth soccer for 14 years. Any good stories?
I got into it with Spurs Soccer and ended up coaching for 14 years. I was asked to take over my youngest son’s team after I sent my middle son off to high school.
That team did not win very many games in two years, so I made the safest bet of my life. I told them if they won the Lander tournament, I would cut off my beard. If they won the State Cup, they could give me a buzz cut.
The little turds did both and I’m still proud of them.
What are your hobbies?
My wife says I am not retired. She is right. Between the Greenbelt Task Force and the Golden Hour Senior Center board, where I serve as treasurer, there is always something going on. But when I do get a break, I try to spend it with family. We had a big family photo taken at Matthew’s wedding last August. Getting all three boys and their families together is about as good as it gets.
Over the years I have done some bicycle touring and white water rafting. I love getting out into this country. Living right here in Green River, with the Green Belt out the back door, makes it pretty easy. My backyard is protected from the wind on most sides. On a nice day it is about perfect.
What advice would you give someone looking to get involved in public service?
Start small. You have to learn the system first. I was fortunate to attend a three-week seminar at Stratford Hall in Virginia and spend some time at Monticello. They talked a lot about public service in the colonial period, about community founders who showed up and did the work without expecting recognition.
But the piece of advice I come back to most is simpler than that: be charitable toward people.
If you’d like us to interview you or someone you know for #WHYoming, please send suggestions to [email protected]
