Richard C LAFREE

13 FEB 1931 - 23 JUN 2022

• BIRTH: 13 FEB 1931, Madison Township, St. Joseph, IN
• DEATH: 23 JUN 2022, Mishawaka, St Joseph, IN

• MARRIAGE: 1954, Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio

1.  Thomas R. LAFREE

INDEX

[N32609] Richard C. LaFree
February 13, 1931 ~ June 23, 2022 (age 91)

Richard C. LaFree passed away on June 23, 2022. He was born on February 13, 1931, to the late August and Mary Alice LaFree (Van Durmen). He graduated from Madison Township High School in 1949 and had served as the Vice President for the FFA, as well as the school yearbook and was involved in numerous schoolboy pranks. Throughout his life his family heard many comments about his blue eyes, “those blue eyes and that smile”. In 1951, Richard was drafted into the Marine Corp and became a Marine sharpshooter. He also completed the Camp Lejeune Demolition/Engineer School training. This training would serve him well when as a farmer he would remove tree stumps and later doing demotion on old bridge buttresses for the Indiana Department of Highway. As a Marine, Richard met Ann L. Gilbert while he was competing in a rife marksmanship contest near Put-In Bay, Ohio. In 1954 he married Ann in Sandusky Ohio who survives. Also surviving are his children, Bonnie (Randall) Suttor of Bremen, Bryan (Susan) LaFree of Bremen, and Pam (Carmelo) Milano of Durham, North Carolina; daughter-in-law, Lynn Smith of Kentucky; 17 grandchildren; 15 great grandchildren; and a sister, Virginia Anderson of Illinois. Richard was proceeded in death by two sons, Greg LaFree and Tom LaFree; by a daughter, Debbie Ozawa; a sister, Miriam and a brother, Charles LaFree. Richard was the owner of LaFree Excavating, Inc. and his employees and children nicknamed him the “Chief”. Ann, his wife, was known as “Mrs. Chief”. LaFree Excavating did major projects for the University of Notre Dame, Memorial Hospital, the City of South Bend, Miles Laboratory, the South Bend Airport, the City of Mishawaka, St. Joseph Hospital, the Town of Benton Harbor and Allied Signal. The East Race and the Century Center Island and the demolition of the Michael’s Laundry at Notre Dame were part of these projects. Visitation will be held on Saturday, July 23rd from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Hahn Funeral Home 505 W. 8th Street, Mishawaka. A memorial service will begin at 2:30 p.m. with Pastor Samuel Ndungo officiating. Burial will be 10 am on Monday, July 25th at the Bremen Community Cemetery. Memorial contributions can be made the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, PO Box 91891, Washington, DC 20090. To leave an online condolence, please visit www.hahnfuneralhomes.com.