James Francis Freer

James Francis Freer, 74 of Fort Lauderdale, Florida passed away on Friday, March 17th of complications from Parkinson’s Disease. He was predeceased by his parents, Francis Hervey Freer and Catherine Frances Freer (Norris) He was born on August 9, 1948 in Troy, New York. He grew up in upstate New York, Watervliet, Guilderland, Hamburg and Liverpool. He graduated from Hamburg High School. He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Holy Cross and a master’s degree in journalism from Georgetown. He worked as a sportswriter for various newspapers covering high school, college and professional sports, both in New York and South Florida. His primary love was horse racing, he made an annual trip to the Kentucky Derby over a dozen times. The past 7 years he wrote on Horse Racing news through HorseRacingFLA.com, a media company he founded in 2015. He is survived by his brother Robert Hervey Freer (Diane) of Latham, New York, his nephew Brian Hervey Freer (Tracy) of Loudonville New York , his niece Heather Kurut (Ray), of Frankfort Illinois, his grand nephew Brandon Freer, and his grand nieces Emily Freer, Ashley Kurut and Anastasia Kurut. A celebration of life is planned soon. Jim asked for any donations to be made to the Parkinson’s foundation or Perkinson’s research entity of your choice.