Freddie Tumlin Ford

Born on July 22, 1933, in Jacksonville, Florida, Freddie is the daughter of the late Fred Tumlin and Jessie Head Tumlin. She was also preceded in death by her daughter, Jan Ford Wood, and sisters Faye Tumlin and Jerry Tumlin Ellis.

She is survived by her husband, John H. Ford; son-in-law Ron Wood (Jan), son Kent Ford (Debbie), son Eddie Ford (Lisa), daughter Lee Ford Shaw (Tim); grandchildren Leann, Micah, Hannah, David, Molly, Christopher, Callie, Anna, and Daniel; ten great-grandchildren; two nephews and a niece.

Freddie’s family moved to Lake Como, Florida, in her teenage years. They were active in First Baptist Church Crescent City, and it was there that she met John Ford, whom she married in 1952. Five years later, the Lord took them via Alabama to Decatur, Georgia, where they raised their four children.

Always highly motivated, as the mother of four young children, Freddie returned to college to finish a degree. She was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society at Emory University. She graduated with a BA in Education in 1966, receiving Emory’s highest academic achievement award. One year later, she received a Master’s of Librarianship.

Freddie started her 21-year career with the DeKalb County School System at Indian Creek Elementary in Clarkston. She later opened the libraries at both Fairington Elementary in Lithonia and Kittredge Magnet School in Atlanta. It was at Kittredge that Freddie designed and implemented the Literary Guild for Young Scholars. She enjoyed bringing children and books together – and nurtured in her own children and grandchildren, as well as her students, a love for reading.

Her main passion in life was Jesus Christ, who was her Savior and the Lord of her life. After moving to Decatur, Freddie planted her life at Valley Brook Baptist Church where she played piano and organ, taught a Bible class and ran the library. In subsequent years, she and John also served in First Baptist Tucker and Briarlake Church.

Involved in the church from age 4, she had a deep love for God’s Word and faithfully taught the Scriptures from age 18-85. She actively encouraged each member of her family toward individual relationship with Jesus.

2 Timothy 1:12 (KJV) expresses Freddie’s confidence in God: “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

How sweet it must have been for her, stepping into heaven, to hear those words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Freddie was known for her sweet spirit, her story telling, her Bible teaching, her good cooking and hospitality. She will be deeply missed but her memory will continue to encourage and challenge the hearts of her family and all who knew her.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday, January 10, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at King’s Bridge Retirement Community, 3055 Briarcliff Road NE, Atlanta, GA, where she and John have lived for the last 10 years.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in her memory to Briarlake Church, 3715 Lavista Road, Decatur, GA 30033, website: briarlakechurch.org, or International Mission Board, 3806 Monument Avenue, Richmond, VA 23230, website: imb.org/give