The Campbell Veterans Memorial Foundation’s Memorial Day Celebration will be virtual this year.
The Celebration will be broadcast from Los Gatos Memorial Park and includes the Los Gatos Memorial Foundation and the American Legion, Campbell Post 99. The event will be from 10 AM – 11 AM on Monday, May 25, 2020.
You’ll be able to receive the Celebration via Facebook and on this website. Details and the list of guest speakers will be published before the event.
Please join us in remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives while serving in the United States Military.
The Campbell Veterans Memorial Fund is most pleased to announce that James R. Free is our Veteran of the Year.
Based on Jim’s continued support and exceptional devotion to CVMF’s mission, we would all agree he could have been our Veteran of the Decade if such an honor existed.
Jim is a Navy Veteran who served as a Surface-to-Air Missile technician aboard the USS Goldsborough, the most advanced Guided Missile Destroyer at the time. Based in Pearl Harbor, the Goldsborough was the Admiral’s Command Ship in what was known as the Pineapple Fleet and was directly involved in combat missions in the Gulf of Tonkin conflict, Vietnam.
After his Navy tour, Jim attended San Jose State University and graduated in 1971 with a B.S. in Business. He studied real estate economics, finance, and mathematics. Jim started his career in commercial real estate and later founded his own appraisal firm, Urban Land Research. The company appraised residential and commercial real estate in the Bay Area for 35 years.
Jim Free was the President of the South Bay Chapter of the Society of Real Estate Appraisers and served on the Board of Directors of the Northern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and was a Senior Certified Commercial Broker with Coldwell Banker.
Jim also served
as a Board Member of the Campbell Chamber of Commerce for nine years and
participated in several high-profile Campbell community efforts and functions,
including the Historic Downtown Campbell Steering Committee. Jim was the
President of the Campbell Kiwanis Club and was selected Kiwanian of the Year in
1999. In 2003, he was selected as the Campbell Chamber of Commerce Citizen of
the Year. In June 2013, the State of California Assemblyman, Paul
Fong, selected Jim as the Veteran of the Year for Assembly,
District 28.
Campbell Mayor Dan Furtado asked Jim to initiate and lead an effort to build a
new Veterans Memorial in downtown Campbell in 2005. Jim formed a committee that
was designated the Campbell Veterans Memorial Foundation, Inc. He served as the
President and CEO of that corporation until 2015 and is now the Chairman Emeritus
of the Board. Mr. Free also serves on the Board of the Los Gatos Veterans
Memorial.
Jim has been married to his wife Lucille Maravilla for 16 years, and they enjoy snow skiing, scuba diving, backpacking, and photography.
Well played Mr. Free. Well played indeed.