Eugene Freedman (March 9, 1925 – February 19, 2008) (a.k.a. Gene Freedman, Gene-san) was an entrepreneur and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

. He is widely known as the founder of the Enesco Corporation, the worldwide distributor for Precious Moments porcelain figurines between 1997 and 2005.

Early life and education

Born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to parents Isadore and Ethel Freedman. When Eugene was still a small child, the family moved to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

and California Institute of Technology. He received his

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

commission at

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

and is a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

Career

He began his career in 1947 as a salesman for a Milwaukee-based

gift A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation ...

and novelty company under his own name, Eugene Freedman, Co. An example of the company's product was a series of Western themed

chalkware Chalkware is an American term for popular figurines either made of moulded plaster of Paris (usually) or sculpted gypsum, and painted, typically with oils or watercolors. They were primarily created during one of three periods: from the late 18th ...

plaques sold under the label of the artist Dan Muller Creations. Several years later, it became the Freedman-Mathews Corporation. He resigned in 1958 to become one of the founders of Enesco Imports, a subsidiary of N. Shure, Co., one of the largest and oldest general merchandise catalog companies in Chicago. When N. Shure was sold to

Butler Brothers Butler Brothers was a retailer and wholesale supplier based in Chicago. It was founded in 1877 as a mail-order company by Charles Hamblet Butler, George Henry Butler, George H. Butler and Edward Burgess Butler. History In the 1920s, Butler Brothe ...

in 1967, Freedman became president and CEO of this subsidiary, renamed Enesco Corporation. The company was sold three more times, ending up named Stanhome, Inc. in 1983. In 1998, when Enesco took over Stanhome's assets, Freedman stepped down as president and CEO but remained active in the corporate workings of the company thus the company presented him with the title of "Founding Chairman". By the time he left the company in March 2005, Enesco had become Enesco Group, Inc, a global leader in gift and

collectibles A collectable (collectible or collector's item) is any object regarded as being of value or interest to a collector. Collectable items are not necessarily monetarily valuable or uncommon. There are numerous types of collectables and terms t ...

with offices in the UK,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, and markets in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Freedman is credited with the success of the Precious Moments gift and collectibles.

Retirement

Even after retirement Freedman continued to maintain a presence in the industry. He served as "Ambassador of Goodwill" for Precious Moments Inc. when that company took ownership of the Precious Moments figurine line, and also lent a hand to gift vendor Starlite Originals, which produced a line of collectibles, Elsa's Safari, named in honor of Freedman's granddaughter.

Philanthropy

With his success, Freedman worked with Easter Seals, and served on the national board of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Freedman's philanthropic endeavors earned him well-deserved recognition. He received the Gift for Life's Chuck Yancy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 for his efforts to fight

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, the Boys and Girls Clubs of America's

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

Humanitarian award in 2004, and the Easter Seals National Philanthropist of the Year award in 2005. Freedman was also honored with the Congressional Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and a special recognition award from the National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED), among many other awards. Freedman died on Tuesday, February 19, 2008 in Maui, Hawaii, where he had a second home. In lieu of flowers, the Freedman family requested donations be made in memory of Freedman to either the Boys and Girls Clubs of America or Easter Seals.

Sources

Eugene Freedman - Chairman Emeritus and Friend to All
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freedman, Eugene 1925 births Northwestern University alumni University of Notre Dame people California Institute of Technology alumni 2008 deaths Businesspeople from Philadelphia 20th-century American businesspeople