Bryan David Freeman

Bryan was born on April 9, 1958 to JW Freeman and Thyra Farmer and was raised in Port Arthur, Texas, where his larger than life personality showed itself early on. With his red curly hair, mischievous grin, and strong-willed nature, Bryan kept his parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and family on their toes from the very beginning.

Bryan never met a stranger. He was known for being the loudest in the room, the life of the party and a good storyteller. While some of his stories were more believable than others, they were always entertaining, and some of the best stories involve his lifelong best friend, Kenny Bertrand, aka Kenny B.

Earlier in life Bryan enjoyed staying active and playing sports. He played golf, he played tennis, he also played softball. In his later years, he just enjoyed to watch it, mostly golf! He was also pretty competitive, sometimes competitive enough that his friends might wonder whether he ever bent the rules, right Kenny?

Throughout his life, Bryan worked many jobs and took pride in providing for his family. He needed and wanted the best of the best, and wanted his family to have that too. One of those jobs led him to meet Sheri. Bryan was determined from the start, and that red curly hair and mischievous smile worked again! When he showed up to pick Sheri up, wearing some tight bell bottoms, sporting a red afro, driving his 76 Cutlass, it may have taken a little longer to win over Jimmy and Mrs. Blanche, but he DID! Sheri and Bryan married and had Bj and Brooke, the apples of his eye until the granbabies arrived!

Bryan also had the opportunity to travel overseas while working in the oil and gas industry, where he made friends around the world and created memories that lasted a lifetime and created more stories to be told!

Bryan loved big and made sure those around him knew it. He was thoughtful and generous, never missed an opportunity to show those he loved, they were special. He was good at writing cards, and dedicating songs to show the people he loved, hey this song made me think of you! He enjoyed going out to eat, listening to blues music, all music, really! I remember growing up, when he was driving, he had the music on loud and using the whole dashboard as a drum set! He was actually a really talented drummer too, on the car dashboard and real ones!

Above all else, Bryan loved his family. He was a very proud father, and the joy of his life was his kids and grandbabies. In 2005 when his first grandbaby, Bryanna was born, he became Pappy! His proudest title he ever wore was Pappy! He bragged about his kids and grandkids every chance he got and loved them with his whole heart, and we all felt it! After every single daily phone call to us, it ended with, "kiss them babies". He was also very close to his siblings, each of them having a deep and meaningful relationship. Along with daily phone calls to his kids, he also called his sister Phyllis. He looked forward to going outside, sitting on the back porch, scrolling on his phone and talking to his people.

Bryan (Pappy) will be deeply missed by all of us leaving a void at all future get togethers, no more evening phone calls, no more hearing, "kiss them babies", no more making him a cup of coffee, even if was way too late for coffee, he is gone. But something we will never forget was his love for us, his advice (sometimes unsolicited advice) his laughter, his smile and unforgettable, bigger than life personality will live on in the stories and memories shared by those closest to him. And we will keep his memory alive and be thankful for the man he was and grateful for the time we had with him. He did a lot in his short 68 years on Earth. He made the most of the time he had here. His life was done here, but we take comfort in knowing, this is not where the story ends, the best parts of his story are just now being written and one day, when we meet again, I cant wait for the stories! Love you forever Pappy!

Those left to cherish his memory are his son, BJ Freeman (Irina); daughter, Brooke Menard (Paul); granddaughters, Bryanna Smith, Brylynn and Brinlee Menard, Mira Freeman, Abby Hooper (Darren), and Nick Menard (Hyejin); great grandchild, Barrett Hooper; his mother, Thyra Varnado; sister, Phyllis Trahan (Ronald); sister, Gaylene Holt (Mark); brother, Darren Freeman (Jana); the mother of his children, Sheri Freeman, who for the last several years has been a devoted caregiver and friend; and mother in law, Blanche Slaydon.

Bryan was a proud big brother to Darren and Gaylene and a proud little brother to Phyllis. He and Darren were quite a pair at all family gatherings and if they were sitting next to each other, you could expect some laughs were about to be had!

He was preceded in death by his father, JW Freeman; step father, David Varnado; step mother, June Freeman; and his father in law, Jimmy Slaydon.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 in the Johnson Funeral Home chapel in Moss Bluff. The Rev. Jason Myer and the Rev. Richard Hamilton will officiate. A visitation will begin at 11:00 AM and continue until the start of the service.