Annie Earlene Farmer

Annie Earlene Farmer at age 83, our beloved Annie Earlene Farmer departed this life Thursday, December 16, 2021. She was born on May 22, 1938, to Selma Johnson Horne and Abel Horne in Edgecombe County, NC.  She attended Kingsboro and G.W. Bullock Elementary School.  She graduated from G.W. Carver High School in 1956.  Earlene attended Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree.   She started her career as a teacher in the Edgecombe School System and retired from the Dayton Public School system in 1996.  She married her high school sweetheart, Aaron Farmer Jr.  They moved to Dayton, OH in 1962 upon Aaron’s transfer to Wright Patterson Airforce Base.  Although North Carolina was always home in their hearts they started a life and family together in Dayton.  She taught for over 35 years in the Dayton Public School system and teaching was her passion.  She saw potential in each student and poured her heart into bringing out the best not only to the students in her class but to everyone she met during her lifetime.  To know her was to be loved by her and encouraged by her to be your best and do your best.

Earlene had a smile that could light up a room and fill your heart with love.  She always found a way to make anyone laugh and make you feel welcomed in her world even if she just met you.  She loved reading, shopping, and staying connected with current events.  During her time at Shaw University, she was actively involved in the civil rights movement and shared with us she heard Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his famous “I have a Dream” speech for the first time in Rocky Mount, NC.  Her greatest love was for her family.  Upon the passing of her mother, she gladly embodied the role as the loved matriarch of the family.  No birthday passed without a card or call from her.  Making you feel special was her life’s work.  She never ended a conversation without saying I love you and if it wasn’t said she’d call you back to tell you she loved you.

 Our hearts will forever be saddened by her loss.  We ask that you honor her memory by loving others with the love and care she so freely gave to us her friends and family.

She was preceded in death by her husband Rev. Aaron Farmer Jr., her parents Abel and Selma Horne, her daughter Bonita Renai Farmer, maternal and paternal grandparents, and her sister Alberta Hines. She is survived by her daughter Aarionne Lynne (Farmer) Rodocker, son-in-law Danny Rodocker and grandson Nolan Aaron Rodocker; sisters, brothers and in-laws, Robert (Christine) Horne, Bernice (Milton) Bynum, Barbara J. Horne, and Larry Horne (Marion Thomas). A host of special nieces, nephews, other family, godchildren, and wonderful neighbors, and friends.

MASKS ARE REQUIRED

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