Constance "Connie" Freese

Constance Joyce Freese passed July 9th in Covallis Oregon aged 69. She was born to Fred Harold and June Madelyn Freese on May 15 1956 in Watertown South Dakota. Her family moved to and resided in Bloomington MN. She graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School where she was a member of the orchestra playing the clarinet. She attended Normandale Community College in Liberal Arts and later Denver Community College where she completed the Paralegal Program. Connie was an accomplished individual with a diverse professional life. She was assistant manager of Lord Fletchers of the Lake restaurant in Minneapolis MN. then operations Manager for various restaurant and night clubs in Larimer Square, Denver CO. She was General Manager and Merchandise buyer for MGM clothing at two women`s specialty boutiques in Scottsdale AZ. and met the Marciano brothers, founders of Guess Jeans. Returning to Denver she was General manager for DFC corporation where she handled funding, licensing and financial aspects related to launching other full service restaurants. Connie changed careers and became a litigation paralegal practicing in Denver and Minneapolis then moved to Seattle WA. where she worked in medical malpractice insurance defense and, at a bus stop, met her husband to whom she was married for 32 years. From there she moved to Fallbrook CA. and transformed into a real estate agent retiring at age 60 to move to Newburyport on the north shore of MA and lastly back to the west coast. Connies` friends are legion; she enjoyed learning about people and made friends easily. In Fallbrook she was an active member of the Fallbrook Land Conservancy and developed into a discerning and observant naturalist. In the Land Conservancy she became an Emerald Grove member and was awarded a Gem of a Volunteer award for her efforts founding a group dedicated to dog walkers and fundraising to support Los Jilgueros and Hellers Bend preserves. She was also President of the Democratic Club of greater Fallbrook. Connie had a multitude of gay friends and enjoyed dancing and camping with them. It was from her gay friends she learned makeup skills in her youth. Tragically she lost all of them to the AIDS epidemic and its follow on consequences. Connie learned to love dogs and cats adopting Rupert and Casper after the passing of one of these friends and became a devoted pet mother and advocate for the rest of her life. Her interests included geopolitics particularly espionage and spycraft; reading OSS,CIA,MI5 history and historical novels. A fan of mystery and police procedural she was captivated by film noir, appreciating the writings of Eric Ambler, Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. She read the entire output of John Sandford, some novels multiple times. She was elegant, a fashionable dresser with a rakish flair and utilized scarfs to great effect. Connie had an active sense of humor, enjoyed the outdoors, long road trips through the American Plains and Southwest and loved cows. She is survived by two sisters, a brother, a bereaved husband, a dalmatian Leopold, and Hecate-Phosphoro, cat.

Tributes

Constance "Connie" Freese

May 15, 1956 - July 9, 2025