Annie Ruth Thomas

There are no better words to describe Annie Ruth Thomas than these: “clothed with strength and dignity”, resilient, warrior, determined, unafraid, able to “laugh at the days to come.”

These words are who she was, what she embodied, and how she lived. Unafraid to face multiple cancer battles, a warrior who poured out resilience like a colorful carpet to walk on, determined to experience the newness of life in varying ways. She wore her strength, sharp and tailored like the shoulder-padded blazers she once loved to wear. She was sharp-witted, sharp-tongued, and sharp-loving.

Annie was born April 18, 1936, in the city of Pelham, located in Mitchell County, Georgia, to James Thomas and Lucille Harris. She was one of seven children: Mamie Cochran, Irene Drayton, Nathaniel Thomas, and James Thomas, Jr., preceded her in death. Her remaining siblings are Johnny Thomas and Maudie Murray.

On April 25, 1959, after what she would often say was one of her funniest romantic stories, she married the late Douglas Charles Freeman in Camilla, GA. After becoming parents to two daughters, Tatiana Lucretia Freeman and Emily Claudette Freeman. The couple relocated to Miami, Florida, and had their only son, Douglas Tirrell Freeman, Sr.

As a professional, Annie worked as a private-duty nurse and certified nursing assistant in private and medical center care for more than thirty years. She then decided to challenge herself and enjoyed her new career in secretarial work at Barry University’s Kendall and Homestead offices before retiring.

Decades before passive and multiple streams of income were necessities in wealth building, Annie monetized her creative gifts. Moving her scissors delicately and precisely around design patterns from Butterick, McCall’s, Simplicity, and Vogue, she fashioned contemporary styles not only for herself, but also for her children, and others (at negotiable rates), rivaling fashions at Sears & Roebuck and other department stores.

A skilled baker, her children would often compete for who would get to lick the bowl once she placed layers of the moistest coconut or chocolate cakes ever, or the most buttery-rich poundcakes not even the angels could create in the oven. Never one to shy away from trying something new, she took the advice of friends to match her skills with recipes for treats like bean pies and cheese pies. Once she did, there were none baked as delicious as hers. And they, too, became part of her passive income empire.

When not practicing her employment and creative skills, Annie was once an avid bowler and involved in several winning leagues. It was a passion she passed on to and shared with her son. And was known to throw the types of parties that were the talk of the town, complete with trash-talking card games, and reminders to the children peeping from the hallway that “this is grown folks' business.”

A Southern hospitality girl, Annie, did not believe that children should go unfed nor undisciplined. It was not unusual for neighborhood kids to fill the yard of the family home as she cooked, knowing that if there were plates for her children, there would be plates for them as well. But she always made it clear, you get the full gamut with her. That meant, with love (and humor), and discipline. So, if by chance, one of her children’s friends ever tells you that she spanked them, it is true, and it likely happened more than once.

Faith and fellowshipping in church were cornerstones for Annie. So much so that even if she had to work, her children knew they had better get to church, dressed properly, with shined shoes and change for the offering. She has worshipped in long-term seasons with New Providence Baptist Church, First Baptist Church of Bunche Park, and Park Road Presbyterian Church.

“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.'” – Mark 5:34

This blessing of healing was bestowed upon Annie at 7:00 A.M., Wednesday, October 15, 2025. God intimately knew her sufferings. He knew every scar she bore through medical trauma over the years. He knew how valiantly she fought against dementia in its fiercest moments. But he also knew that whether she was standing flat-footed against breast cancer or beating the daylight out of colon cancer, she would use what she learned in each medical war to encourage others to be mindful of their bodies and be urgent in taking every opportunity to be well.

Cherishing their own stories of this powerful woman are not only her children, but also her grandchildren: Camisha Ann Freeman (whom she affectionately called The Princess), Isaiah Langston-Michael Freeman (whom she loved to greet as “Grandma’s handsome baby”), and Kennedi Morgan Freeman (whom she always quipped is “just so smart). Her first grandchild, Douglas Tirrell Freeman, Sr., with whom she started the ritual of special days with Grandma, preceded her in death (2023). Also clinging to beautiful memories of her are special cousin Annie Bowens, bonus grandchildren Ronald Scriven, Jr., and Tamijah Scriven, goddaughters Laurance Webb (who preceded her in death, 2013), Deanna Harris, and Deirdre Mauldin, and godson Antwan Whitehead, bonus godsons Antinori Harris and Deion McNeal, and a wealth of aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends.

In her honor, we ask that you advocate mightily for your health and that you tell your stories to those you love so that your voice, your truth, and your life may continue to be impactful when you go in peace to eternal freedom.