Montco Native, 28, Dies After Fall From Trail In Hawaii, Obituary Says

A 28-year-old man who spent his formative years in the Philadelphia area before moving to Hawaii died earlier this month after falling from a trail while on a hike.

Marshall Edgar Freedman, a Dresher native, was a graduate of both Germantown Academy and George Washington University, where he was a star student-athlete, excelling in both the classroom and as a water polo utility player.

In Hawaii, Freedman was a manager at a Cheesecake Factory in Waikiki, according to HawaiiNewsNow.

Freedman was hiking with a group of friends when he went further down the trail to investigate the way forward, a Philly.com report states. He fell 300 feet to his death.

Friends and family remembered him as a passionate student of Japanese language and culture, which he studied at George Washington. He was fluent in Japanese and Spanish and also spoke Mandarin and Korean, reports state. At the Cheesecake Factory, Freedman has risen quickly to a managerial role, where he nurtured other employees.

“He was a natural-born leader and got a lot of joy out of it. He guided, led, and walked side by side with those who were with him. That quality of leadership, as a friend, was something I really cherished," Domenick Barbo, Freedman's coworker and roommate, told Philly.com.

A fund has been established in his name: the Marshall Edgar Freedman Memorial Trust Fund. Donations can be made to the fund by mailing TD Bank, 2900 W. Moreland Rd., Willow Grove, Pa. 19090.

Patch file photo