Mildred Naomi Friedman

Mildred Naomi Friedman was born on August 3, 1928 in Woodbury, Tennessee and passed away December 16, 2015 from natural causes. She was the only daughter and the youngest of four children born to Calvin and Sarah Young. Her older brothers were Houston, Dalton and Leonard who proceeded her in death.

Naomi attended elementary and high school in Cannon County. Upon graduation from high school, she went to work for a local cheese plant. From there, Naomi moved on to work for Colonial Shirt Corporation, a national clothing manufacturer whose home factory was in Woodbury.

During her career at Colonial, Naomi ascended to the title of Company Treasurer and, at one point, had over 150 employees under her supervision. Naomi continued her career at Colonial until her retirement in 1976. At that time, she was in a relationship with the man who truly became the love of her life, her second husband Leonard Friedman,

Leonard and Naomi were splitting time between Tennessee and New York City until Leonard also decided to semi-retire and relocate to Florida. After an exhaustive search all over the state, the pair chose to settle in Jacksonville. The next four years included amazing holiday parties with dozens of friends and family and well as countless hours with LF tinkering in his workshop and Naomi becoming an amazing gardener. Tragically, Leonard and a close friend were killed in a plane crash in 1981 leaving her to cherish his memory for the remainder of her life.

Naomi remained in the home she and Leonard cherished until 2013. She was blessed to have a faithful employee, Wimal Nathan, with her for thirty years to help watch and maintain the property. During that time, she saw the arrival of Wimal’s wife Nirmala and the birth of their daughter, Brittany, for whom she cared like a granddaughter.

She was also blessed to have the second love her life, her grandson Josh, come to Florida for many summers as a boy and watch him grow into an amazing young man.

Naomi is survived by her son, Ron, who works in the hotel industry and resides in Reno, Nevada with his wife Paz. Her daughter Rita and husband Jim Burgener have retired to Jacksonville Beach after completing successful careers in the clothing industry. Her youngest child, Barry, spent almost 30 years in the radio and television business and now lives in Neptune Beach with his wife, Gina Cavallo. Na omi has also been blessed to see the birth of her first great-grandchild Charlotte, born to her beloved grandson Josh and his wife Lindsay in 2013. Josh graduated from Vanderbilt University and Vandy Law and he and his family live in Nashville, Tennessee.

The family is very thankful for the staff members at Ashford Court, Community Hospice McGraw Center and very much appreciates the great care she received from her primary care physician, Louis Akra.

Visitation will be from 3-5pm at the Woodbury Funeral Home in Woodbury, Tennessee Sunday, December 20th. A private burial will take place on December 21st. A celebration of Naomi’s life with take place in early 2016 at the Ponte Vedra Club with details to follow.

Arrangements are under the direction of Hardage-Giddens Greenlawn Funeral Home..

Please offer condolences at www.greenlawnjacksonville.com