GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Dawn Freeman, of Lanikai, stood in her home on Tuesday with a portrait of her son Richard Freeman Jr., who was killed by a drunk driver in an accident 19 years ago. The annual decorations are in memory of her son, who loved Christmas.

A Lanikai couple builds a Christmas
display in honor of the son they lost

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By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

The first memorial Richard and Dawn Freeman put up in honor of their son was a decorated Christmas tree at the intersection where he was killed by a drunk driver.

But that tree lasted less than a day at Castle Junction on the Pali Highway. By morning someone had stolen it, along with the sign explaining the tree was in memory of their beloved son, 28-year-old Dicki, who loved Christmas.

Undeterred, the Freemans returned to the site on Memorial Day five months later and left some flowers. The flowers, too, were stolen.

The next Christmas, they decorated another Christmas tree and used their front yard as the memorial site. It was the beginning of a yearly ritual that has grown more elaborate every year for 19 years, turning their memorial into a visitor attraction on Windward Oahu.

"It sort of mushroomed and it got bigger and bigger. (Dicki) liked lights, so we put up lots of lights -- in the trees, around the house, wherever we can find a place to hang them," Richard Freeman said.

The Freemans' yard at 215 Kaelepulu Drive also features a white lattice gazebo, a playhouse, a Santa village and a conglomeration of dolls, Christmas figures, reindeer and other holiday ornaments.

The Freemans -- he at 74 and she at 71 -- do everything themselves.

"We're feeling our age ... but it keeps us going," Dawn said. "We're very tired at night but that's OK; it's a good tired."

Local visitors come from as far away as Waianae, she said, while tourists from the mainland, Japan and elsewhere also seek out the Lanikai home. Over the years, the memorial has been featured in newspapers and television news reports.

Children who visited the home have grown up and are bringing their own children for tours, Dawn said.

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Richard Freeman and his wife, Dawn, stood in front of their annual Christmas display at their home in Lanikai on Tuesday night. The Freemans started decorating their yard Nov. 1 and finished everything by the middle of this month.

Visitors do not always arrive knowing the holiday scene is a tribute to the couple's son. But Dawn is always happy to share her story.

"I love to talk to people. I am more than happy to talk about it," she said. "This memorial shows Dicki is still very much alive. He's still with us. We are doing all this for him."

Richard N. "Dicki" Freeman Jr. was killed Sept. 19, 1983, while he was on his way to work as an power plant operator for Hawaiian Electric Co. He stopped at the intersection and was waiting for the traffic light to change when a drunk driver rammed his car.

He is survived by wife Stacy and two boys, Kameron, then 4, and Levon, then 2. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered off Mokulea island.

"It shouldn't have happened to us. I cry but it passes, then I'm fine," Dawn said, remembering her son, who was one of the couple's four children. "I don't wish losing a child on my worst enemy. It's the missing him ..." she said, her voice disappearing as tears swelled up.

Images of Dicki -- his "good-looking" smiling face, in his canoe paddling, on his wedding day -- are still as vivid as ever in her mind.

"He was my best friend. Often he would drop by on the way to the beach just to say hi," she said. He would always give her the "shaka" sign and tell her he loved her when he came by.

"Dicki would just love this," she said about the decorations she painstakingly puts up every year. This year, the Freemans began decorating Nov. 1 and finished everything by mid-December.

While the memory may be painful, the work is fun, she said. "I just love decorating. I'm in my element, I guess."

The Freemans try to add new decorations every year, but they always display "Roscoe" the homemade snowman prominently in the front yard.

"It's special because Dicki helped make it" when he was a child, Dawn said. "Roscoe reminds us of the good times. He brings back times when we were all here. It's important we remember the good times."

Richard and Dawn Freeman's Christmas decorations Where: 215 Kaelepulu Drive, Lanikai When: The lights are turned on from about 6 to 11 p.m. daily until about the middle of January. Call: 262-5458 for more information