A Century of Service: Honoring David F. Freeman, M.D.
This month, the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas celebrates a monumental milestone in the life of one of its most esteemed members and founding figures— David F. Freeman, M.D., who turned 100 years old on April 13, 2025.
David grew up on a farm within walking distance of Raleigh, North Carolina. As the youngest of five sons of a farmer and minister who taught religion at Meredith College, his character was stamped with a profound commitment to service, reflection, and healing. These qualities came to define his military career and his contributions to psychoanalysis.
David entered Wake Forest College in 1942 but left to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War II on December 9, 1943. His military service began at Fort Bragg and continued through basic medical training at Camp Barkeley, Texas. David deployed to Glasgow, Scotland as an Army Medical Laboratory Technician and, in December 1944, he landed in Le Havre, France where he served at the famous Camp Lucky Strike. David’s arrival corresponded with the start of the Battle of the Bulge during which the Allies’ medical capacity was sorely tested. His service in war-torn France included Sissonne (where his unit was housed in the historic Hopital de la Pitie), Reims, Arlon, and Mourmelon le Petit. His last overseas duty station was on the banks of the Seine River at the dispensary of the 6874th Quarter Master Battalion, near the Eiffel Tower. He was honorably discharged at Fort Bragg on May 11, 1946.
After the war, David completed his undergraduate degree at Wake Forest College, his medical degree at the Bowman Gray School of Medicine at Wake Forest University, and his psychiatry residency training at the acclaimed Boston Psychopathic Hospital. In 1961, David and his wife, Connie, a clinical social worker, moved to Chapel Hill where they maintained a shared practice of psychoanalytic therapy in their home office and raised four children.
In 1966, David graduated as an adult psychoanalyst from the UNC-Duke Psychoanalytic Institute and as a child analyst from the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute. He quickly became an integral member of the psychoanalytic community of North Carolina, serving as faculty member, supervisor, training analyst, and Institute Director. Over the years, David has mentored and inspired generations of clinicians by virtue of his deep clinical insight and his kind, patient, generous, humorous, and sturdy way of being.
David’s dream of extending psychoanalytic understanding into the community led him to co-found the North Carolina Psychoanalytic Foundation. In 2016, the Foundation merged with the North Carolina Psychoanalytic Society and the Psychoanalytic Education Center of the Carolinas to become the Psychoanalytic Center of the Carolinas. David’s vision helped shape the Center as a community grounded in compassion, intellectual rigor, and lifelong learning.
Even at 100, David remains actively engaged. In 2024, he made the pilgrimage back to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-Day where he stood among fellow veterans and world leaders to pay tribute to the fallen. It was a poignant reminder of the resilience that has defined his century of
life and the values that continue to guide our Center.
We are profoundly grateful for David F. Freeman’s legacy. As we celebrate his one hundred years, we honor his dedication to both healing and humanity.
Happy 100th birthday, David. You are an inspiration to us all.
