Mrs. Jean Marie (Hall) Freeman, known to family and friends affectionately as "Mama Jean", was born on February 2, 1935 in Washington, D.C to parents, Raymond and Corrine Hall. Before moving to North Brentwood, MD, she grew up in Historic Barry Farms in Southeast Washington, DC and regularly  attended her family church, St. Paul Christian Community Church.  An excellent student, she graduated Valedictorian from Randall Junior High School in 1950, was inducted into the National Honor Society in 1951, and graduated with honors from Cardozo Senior High School in 1952.  She received the honor of being named one of the Outstanding June Graduates of 1952, by The Washington Times-Herald. During her high school years, she was actively involved in her student government and was elected Vice-President of her senior class. She also excelled in extra curricula activities such as Cardozo High School's Girl Cadet Corps where she was promoted to the rank of Colonel by her senior year.

Upon graduating high school, Jean entered the US Navy in 1953, where she completed her training in the Hospital Corps. She was selected as the Honor Woman of Company 129 (W) in August 1953, and was honorably discharged in 1955 in order to marry the love of her life and high school sweetheart, Dr. Preston Garrison Freeman (Gary) on August 26, 1955. Out of that union, they had four daughters, Jacqueline Rene, Michelle Celeste, Nicole Stacey, and Monica Lucia.  Upon purchasing their first home in North Brentwood, MD, she joined First Baptist Church of North Brentwood, where she taught Sunday School to young adults.

In the mid 1960's, Jean professionally modeled for the first black modeling agency in the United States, The Grace Del Marco Agency for People of Color, founded and owned by Ophelia DeVore.

Jean's entire professional career was spent in service to young people. She attended DC Teacher's College, formerly the historic Miner Teacher's College, where she obtained her Associate's Degree. She served thirty-plus years with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS), and excelled in every position from administrative assistant, career placement specialist, and high school business manager, until her retirement in 1990.

In March 1992, Jean and Gary realized a long-time dream and moved to sunny Palm Coast, Florida. There, they enjoyed the fruits of their labor and each other. With her loving husband, Jean golfed year-round, dined out often at her and Gary's favorite beachside seafood restaurants with family and friends, and most importantly to her – deepened her spiritual knowledge and faith, and became a member of the Geodesic Dome Spiritual Center of Flagler Beach, FL. Gary, preferring not to be away from his wife, would always ask Jean to travel with him  on his golf trips with the Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) Golf Teams which he coached.  She became affectionately known as the "team mom" by both the men and women's B-CU golf teams. While in Florida, Jean immersed herself in the hobbies she loved – reading, performing healing reiki massage on her closest of friends, and collecting dolphins.

On April 19, 2011, Jean kissed the love of her life goodbye as he transitioned. She remained in Florida for an additional 3 ½ years before moving to Charlotte, North Carolina to live with her daughter, Monica. In late August 2018, Jean and Monica moved back to the DC/MD Metropolitan Area to be near the family that she so dearly loved.

On her last birthday this past February, Jean's family and friends had the opportunity to celebrate her and profess their profound love for her during her 85 ^th birthday party.  The day was magical and brought her so much joy! As the theme of the party said… "It's so nice to get flowers while you can still smell the fragrance", a quote she would reference often.

At 12:19am on Wednesday, May 20, 2020, Jean was reunited with her soulmate, Gary, her parents, Raymond (Poppie) and Corrine, and her Aunt Sugar (Evelyn Dixon) who she always said was more like a big sister to her.

Jean leaves behind to cherish her memory, her loving daughters, Jacqui, Shellie, Nikki (Whitehead), and Monica; her son-in-law, James Whitehead, Jr.; her grandchildren, Raymond, Candyce (Jones), Aja, and Christina (Sweetpea); her great-grandchildren, Kidada, Ricky, Jaylynn, and Rachel; her grandson-in-law, Cory Jones; her cousins, Diane, Bruce, Sharon, Craig, and the entire Dixon Family; her god-children, Nikki Brown-Russell, and Marshall Brown; and a host of beloved friends.