Lillian Nell Freeman, 100, of Fernandina Beach, Florida, passed away peacefully at her home after a brief illness and entered her heavenly home on Saturday, July 4, 2026.
Born in Hilliard, Florida, Lillian was the eldest of nine children born to Mark and Millie Tomlinson. From an early age, she embraced responsibility, attending school in Hilliard while helping care for her younger brothers and sisters. In the early 1940s, she moved to Jacksonville, FL where she spent the next 14 years working for several large food processing companies.
In the mid-1950s, Lillian made Fernandina Beach her home, a community she would dearly love for the rest of her life. There, she met the love of her life, Lonnie Maxwell Freeman, in 1956. They married two years later and shared 49 wonderful years together while raising their two daughters.
Lillian was well known throughout Fernandina Beach for her strong work ethic and friendly smile. Over the years, she worked for several local businesses, beginning in the downtown drug stores, later in a sewing shop and other local businesses, before finding a job she especially enjoyed at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club snack bar, where she faithfully worked for 20 years until retiring at the age of 76. She never met a stranger and enjoyed visiting with the many friends and customers she came to know through the years.
She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Lonnie Maxwell Freeman; her parents, Marquis Delafayette “Mark” and Mildred Elizabeth “Millie” Tomlinson; her sisters, Nellie Mae Strickland, Eva Elizabeth Vanzant, Mary Mildred Freeman, and Stella Mae Davis; and her brother, Frank Tomlinson (Martha).
Lillian is survived by her daughters, Lesia Freeman Waldrip (Timmy) of Fernandina Beach, Florida, and Cammie Freeman Veltre (Louis) of Greenville, SC; her sisters, Ruby Carter (Carlos) of Fernandina Beach and Delaine Tomlinson Tuggle of Hilliard; her brother, Robert Tomlinson (May Jean) of Hilliard; her many loving nieces and nephews, including Sharon and Linda, who held a particularly special place in her heart.
Lillian found joy in life’s simple pleasures. She loved sewing, cooking, and baking for family and friends, fishing alongside Lonnie, tending her garden, and camping with her family when her daughters were young. She and Lonnie especially enjoyed traveling to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee to visit family and friends, creating memories they cherished for many years.
A woman of deep and abiding Christian faith, Lillian was a longtime member of Five Points Baptist Church. Her family was the center of her world, and she always made it a point to know what was happening in the lives of those she loved. She had a genuine interest in people, always asking questions, and making others feel important. Her warm smile, kind spirit, and easy conversations left a lasting impression on those she met.
Even in her later years, Lillian believed in staying active and making the most of each day. Following her retirement, she joined the YMCA and, for the past seven years, faithfully enjoyed one-on-one workouts with her trainer, Anne, whom she considered a dear friend. Her determination, positive outlook, and remarkable resilience inspired those around her.
Lillian possessed a quiet strength and an unwavering will to live. Even as age brought physical challenges, she faced each one with grace, perseverance, and an appreciation for every new day she was given. She will be remembered for her loving heart, unquestionable faith, gentle spirit, and the example she set through a century of a life well lived.
Lillian was so appreciative to have recently celebrated her hundredth birthday with close friends and family.
The family will receive friends on Friday, July 10th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church, 1600 South 8th Street, Fernandina Beach, FL. Funeral services will follow at 11:00 a.m. The graveside committal will follow at Bosque Bello Cemetery, 1321 North 14th Street, Fernandina Beach.
Memorial contributions may be made in memory of Lillian to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or to Cats Angels, Inc., P.O. Box 16072, Fernandina Beach, FL 32035.