Gilbert Maurice Freedman Obituary

Gilbert Maurice Freedman, 91, of Mechanicsburg, died April 6, 2026, at UPMC West Shore.

He was born February 26, 1935, in Harrisburg, the son of Irvin Isadore Freedman and Mary (Wood) Freedman.

Gilbert flew before he engineered. He served as a test pilot in the United States Navy, then spent a career doing the kind of work that ends up in museums. He studied mechanical engineering at Penn State and went on to Stanford for his master's. At NASA, he helped design the high-altitude spacesuits worn in the Mercury and Gemini programs — the suits that carried the first Americans into space. He went on to Honeywell and later the Pennsylvania Rural Electric Association, and he held his Professional Engineer license in Pennsylvania until the end. He never stopped wanting to know how things worked.

He married Laura 52 years ago, and together they raised Joshua in Mechanicsburg. When he wasn't at a desk or a drafting table, he was on the Conodoguinet Creek. He fished it, walked it, and gave years of his time to the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association because he believed a creek was worth protecting. If there was open water and an hour free, he found his way to it.

Gilbert is survived by his wife, Laura Freedman; his son, Joshua Freedman, and daughter-in-law, Han Le, of Mechanicsburg; his grandson, Toan Ba To; his daughter, Faline DiGiorgio; his brother, Philip D. Freedman of Lancaster; and his nieces and nephews, David, Abigail, Ronald, and Sally. He was preceded in death by his parents, Irvin and Mary.

In keeping with how he lived, Gilbert gave his body to the Penn State College of Medicine so that the next generation of doctors could learn from him. A memorial will be announced and will be held on the Conodoguinet Creek — the water he loved. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Conodoguinet Creek Watershed Association.

He built suits that kept astronauts alive, kept the lights on across rural Pennsylvania, and kept a creek worth fishing. That is a full life, and it was his.