State Highway Bridge Director Earle S. ‘Jock’ Freedman Dies at 96

April 10, 2026 Alan Feiler, Editor-in-Chief

Earle S. "Jock" Freedman worked for the Maryland State Highway Administration for more than six decades. (Photo courtesy of Sol Levinson & Bros.)

Not many people live long enough to enjoy having an overpass bridge named in their honor. But Earle S. “Jock” Freedman did.

A retired bridge engineer who held the distinction of being the longest-serving fulltime employee for the State of Maryland, Freedman passed away on Thursday, Apr. 9. The Pikesville resident was 96.

A Baltimore native, Freedman was a 1947 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and a 1950 alumnus of Johns Hopkins University.

Freedman headed the Maryland State Highway Administration’s Office of Bridge Development and Structures from 1974 until his retirement in 2016.

Over the course of more than 65 years with the Maryland State Highway Administration, he helped design, maintain and oversee more than 2,500 bridges.

Jock Freedman helped design and construct the Naval Academy Bridge in Severn. (Courtesy of Federal Highway Administration)

Among the bridges he helped design and construct was the U.S. Naval Academy Bridge that crosses the Severn River in Annapolis.

“Jock lived a life defined by devotion, intellect and lasting contribution,” his family wrote on the website of Sol Levinson & Bros. “Though he was deeply cherished by his family and community, he was also widely respected across Maryland for an extraordinary professional legacy.”

In his office, Freedman always kept a sign that proclaimed, “It is a crime to build an ugly bridge.”

His family wrote that Freedman strongly believed that “bridges should serve not only a practical purpose but also contribute beauty to the landscape around them. His work left a visible and lasting imprint on the state he loved.”

In 2004, Maryland celebrated Freedman’s achievements and legacy by naming the Pikesville bridge on Reisterstown Road that crosses over Interstate 695 in his honor.

A dozen years later, he received the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ Alfred E. Johnson Achievement Award for outstanding contributions in engineering.

Earle S. “Jock” Freedman (second from left) is shown here at the time of his retirement in July of 2016. He was honored at a Board of Public Works meeting by former Gov. Larry Hogan (second from right), who declared it “Earle ‘Jock’ Freedman Day.”

In addition, Gov. Larry Hogan designated July 6, 2016 “Earle ‘Jock’ Freedman Day,” for his longtime service with the State Highway Administration.

“Jock, thank you for your exceptional work, leadership and extraordinary talent. The citizens of Maryland were certainly lucky to have you for all these years,” Hogan said at the Board of Works ceremony.

“Jock’s was a life of substance and quiet distinction, one marked by enduring love for his family, deep commitment to his work, and a legacy built not only in memory but in the very bridges that carry generations forward,” his family wrote.

Freedman is survived by his wife, Gertrude “Trudy” Freedman (nee Bluefeld); his children, Barbara (Craig) Neuman and Rosalyn (Joel) Chazen; his grandchildren, Michael (Zipporah) Neuman, Dr. Brian (Didi) Neuman, Adam (Daniella) Neuman, Danielle (Shalom) Zoor, and Douglas (Samantha) Chazen; and his great-grandchildren, Nava Neuman, Azriel Neuman, Daphna Neuman, Shemaya Neuman, Zachary Neuman, Riley Neuman, and Mia Zoor.

He was predeceased by his parents, Fannie and Norman Freedman.

Services will be held at noon on Sunday, Apr. 12, at Sol Levinson’s Chapel, 8900 Reisterstown Road in. Interment will follow at Beth Tfiloh Cemetery, 5800 Windsor Mill Road.

Contributions in Freedman’s memory may be sent to Bais Yaakov School for Girls, 6300 Smith Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21209; Talmudical Academy, 4445 Old Court Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21208; or Ohr Chadash Academy, 7310 Park Heights Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21208.