Paramedics have served Illinois residents for more than half a century. And Dr. John Peter Freeland is one of the reasons for it.
In 1972, Freeland helped create the Northwest Community Emergency Medical Services System, the first such multi-community EMS program in the United States. He created the curriculum and taught Illinois’ inaugural group of paramedics inside his Waukegan home, serving them pizza and soda during their classes.
His trailblazing didn’t stop there. Around the same time the EMS system was established, he started what is believed to be Lake County’s first dialysis unit.
“He would always be a part of creating solutions,” his daughter Lisa Bennett said.
John Peter Freeland died on Aug. 22 in his Waukegan home at age 90. Freeland had lymphoma and had been undergoing chemotherapy, his family said.
Born May 18, 1935, Freeland grew up in the Waukegan area. His father, John E. Freeland, was a general practitioner and surgeon in the county from 1929 to 1972. Following his father’s footsteps, Freeland received his bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1957, and graduated from Baylor University with a medical degree in 1961.
After completing residencies in Minnesota and Ohio, Freeland returned to Waukegan and set up a private practice at Victory Memorial Hospital. Shortly thereafter, he opened up a nephrology practice. “His specialty was kidneys,” said his son, John. “At that time, there was no dialysis in Lake County, so he basically set up a dialysis unit because it was needed.”
Freeland was a personable doctor who wanted to know both his patients and his employees, his family said. The dedicated doctor would often stop by a local bakery before his shift and surprise nurses with donuts, his daughter Lisa Bennett said.
Freeland would also visit patients at their homes if they couldn’t come into the office.
“He did it because he really cared,” Bennett said.
Apart from medicine, Freeland loved woodworking. He crafted detailed oak chests, highchairs and grandfather clocks, Bennett said. “There was a level of craftsmanship.”
Freeland also enjoyed pheasant hunting from his cabin in Wisconsin, taking photos of his family and completing Wall Street Journal crossword puzzles.
“He just loved to use his mind,” Bennett said.
And he never stopped doing so, she said. Freeland mentored students for more than 25 years. Just months before his passing, he was still working with medical students at the Chicago Medical School at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine.
“Even till his 90s, he was still doing Zoom calls and teaching, just because he wanted to,” Bennett said.
Freeland is survived by his wife, Jane; their three children, Ann, Lisa, and John; 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. A memorial will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Marsh Funeral Home in Gurnee with a service following.
