Jamie Freshour Turner left this world on November 4, 2017. Jamie was born on April 12, 1985, in Naples, Florida, to Neil F. and Nancy Owen Freshour.
Jamie grew up in the Clearwater, FL area. In school, she played in the band and was a member of the Junior National Honor Society. It was also during this time that Jamie became interested in the sport of synchronized swimming. It was here that Jamie developed many of the friendships that lasted throughout her life.
Jamie graduated from Palm Harbor University High School’s International Baccalaureate program in 2003. She was a member of PHUHS’s Swim Team. Jamie became a part of the Gator Nation (as was her dad and several other members of her family) at the University of Florida, majoring in Elementary Education and graduating with Honors. She earned her Master’s Degree, also at the University of Florida, in the area of Special Education. Throughout her college years, Jamie was a member of the University of Florida’s Synchronized Swimming Team, competing against other college swim teams across the nation.
Always focused, Jamie decided upon a career in teaching at around the age of three, when she would place her stuffed animals, her grandfather, and anyone else who would sit down in their desks, and “teach.” Later, she made her love of educating children a reality. Jamie’s first teaching job was at Newberry Elementary, where she taught Kindergarten, first, and second grades. She was also a Mentor Teacher for pre-interns and interns from the University of Florida. Jamie was the Newberry Elementary 2010-2011 Teacher of the Year. After Jamie married her husband, Craig, and moved to Georgia, she worked at Hapeville Elementary School. There, she facilitated Exceptional Student Education and taught second grade.
Besides achieving her goals and blessings of becoming an educator, a wife, and a mother, she was also “the quintessential Brownie” Girl Scout. She was a focused, task-oriented list-maker, organizer, and an avid reader, who promoted and advocated for early literacy for children. She loved to sing along to Jimmy Buffet and Billy Joel songs with her family and watch Florida football with her Dad.
Jamie is survived by her husband of four years, Craig, their brilliant daughter, Olivia Avery, mother, Nancy Freshour, younger sister, Kristen Liberman, paternal grandmother, Mary Lois Freshour, and the many friends and family that were such a large part of her life.
Her grandfathers, George Owen and Fred Freshour, her maternal grandmother, Doris Jean Owen, her father Neil Freshour, and Uncle Don Owen preceded her in death.
A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at the Chapel of Mowell Funeral Home, Peachtree City. The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., prior to the service. There will be a Gathering of Family and Friends at Holy Trinity Catholic Church, in St. Faustina Hall following the service.
