Man who built Maine West basketball program dies

Gaston Freeman was Maine West High School's mainstay.

Mr. Freeman was there when the Des Plaines school opened in 1959 and was the varsity head coach of the boys basketball program for its first 20 years.

After Mr. Freeman retired as a social science teacher in 1993, he was still a fixture at boys and girls basketball games and a frequent visitor during the school day.

So, it was a difficult blow to many people with ties to Maine West to learn Mr. Freeman died at age 86 late Monday night at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. The removal of a cancerous tumor from his colon more than three weeks ago led to an infection and pneumonia.

"He was very proud of Maine West, and for everything he ever did, he had Maine West in mind," said Derril Kipp, the head varsity girls basketball coach who came to the school in 1981 and started a close friendship with Freeman.

"He's really going to be missed and it's really a loss for the school," said Maine West assistant principal for instruction Dave Matkovic, who was the boys basketball head coach from 1998-2004. "He was an absolute, constant presence since the day the building opened."

Mr. Freeman was one of the most successful boys basketball coaches in Illinois history with stops at downstate DePue and Streator. He finished with 569 career victories and was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1976.

Maine West won regional titles in 1963 and 1976 and the Mid-Suburban League's first two titles in 1964 and 1965 under Mr. Freeman.

Mr. Freeman also assisted Al Carstens' 1963 state championship baseball team and the 1959 Maine Township team that completed the only back-to-back state baseball titles in Illinois high school history.

Mr. Freeman captained Western Illinois University's baseball team in 1946 and is in the school's Hall of Fame.

"He was fun to play for," said Rolling Meadows head baseball coach Jim Lindeman, who played on Mr. Freeman's last basketball team in 1979 and had a nine-year major-league baseball career.

"When I think about Maine West, I think about Gaston Freeman and Al Carstens. They're kind of synonymous with the high school."

Matkovic was a freshman at Maine West when Mr. Freeman retired from coaching. Matkovic said one of the biggest highlights of his coaching career was a pre-game talk from Mr. Freeman and his friend Ray Meyer, the legendary DePaul University coach who died in 2006.

"He kind of played everybody's uncle or grandfather in the building," Matkovic said. "He was always looking out for all of us.

"I know I'm going to miss him. I feel I've been blessed to have known him and been around him."

Kipp said many students and athletes had similar feelings toward Mr. Freeman.

"Many, many, many kids came back a lot and stayed in touch with him," Kipp said. "He was very well-liked.

"He was always full of energy and ready to go and eager to do something. He was always very supportive and never said a bad word about anybody."

A memorial service for Mr. Freeman will be held at 2:30 p.m. Friday at Shalom Memorial Park, 1700 Rand Road in Palatine.