Maurice “Mo” Freedman

Maurice “Mo” Freedman 84, of West Newton passed away February 9 with his family at his side. He is survived by his beloved wife of 46 years, Hedda Jurgenson, his daughter, Melina Vanderpile, her husband, Kurt Vanderpile, of Arlington, MA, his cherished granddaughters, Delia 13and Luci 10, his brother-in-law, Sven Jurgenson and his companion, Mary Lothenbach.

Mo was born and grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, NY. After graduating from Brooklyn Tech, Mo received a full scholarship to MIT.Soon the lure of civil engineering jobs in faraway places landed him in Greenland, Newfoundland, Bangladesh, Bermuda and Alaska. Living in Greenwich Village in the mid to late 1950’s, Mo enjoyed the vibrant artistic scene there while completing his civil engineering degree at NYU.

Spanning almost 60 years, Mo had a diverse career, ranging from surveying, heavy construction, planning & engineering design to development and development management. He worked at Metcalf & Eddy, then was Senior Principal and Chief Engineer at Sasaki Associates, Watertown, then Pressley Associates, and finally founder and president of The Freedman Group, Inc.

Mo’s great passion was captaining his sailboat, the Starquest with his family in the waters of Buzzards Bay and Vineyard Sound. He loved swimming at Crystal Lake and Walden Pond, spending time at the beach in Wellfleet, and walking or biking around Castle Island and Harbor Walk. He loved lecturing at MIT and the Harvard GSD and at local libraries and senior centers in his retirement about land development, current political events, and waterfront planning – product of his love of life long learning. Traveling the world with Hedda became his favorite activity in the last years of his life.

He will be buried on Friday, February 12 in a private graveside service.  A celebration in Mo’s memory will be announced at a later date by his family.