Updated 12/9/2020 5:31 PM
Retired Elgin Deputy Fire Chief Bill Freiberg died Tuesday at Sherman Hospital from complications of COVID-19, according to Elgin Fire Chief Robb Cagann.
He was 74.
Freiberg retired in 2003 after 27 years with the Elgin Fire Department. Longtime friend and fellow retired firefighter Larry Judkins said they d been pals for 55 years, since back when they both worked at Eagle Foods on Liberty Street in Elgin, with Judkins working in produce and Freiberg in housewares.
In the late 1960s the friends wanted to join the Elgin Fire Department. They both took the test and Judkins joined the department on April 21, 1969. But Freiburg had a problem.