Hundreds gather to celebrate life of Doris ‘Cousin Tuny’ Freeman

JACKSON, Tenn. — Hundreds gathered Friday inside North Side United Methodist Church to pay their last respects to Doris “Cousin Tuny” Freeman.

Freeman passed away Aug. 5 at the age of 91. While most widely known for her “Cousin Tuny” character, she was also a mother, community activist and media personality.

“We are here to shed some tears, but to laugh, but mostly to give God thanks for an amazing life,” said the Rev. David Comperry of Emmanuel United Methodist Church.

Those attending laughed and at times cried remembering how such a charismatic woman did so much for West Tennessee. Her children spoke about their mother being a light of hope for so many.

“That light has only grown into a light that lives forever inside of all our hearts,” Freeman’s daughter Connie Prince said.

But it was her willingness to be there for others that her son says he will never forget.

“What made her so unique, so difficult to explain is because she showed up,” Cousin Tuny’s son Jimmy Freeman said. “Mother showed up.”

Through the years, Freeman worked with the Exchange Club-Carl Perkins Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse to raise millions for the children of West Tennessee. Her children say her legacy will live on for generations to come.

“So mother, good and faithful servant, go rest high on that mountain,” Jimmy Freeman said. “Yessiree bobolinko.”

After Friday’s service, a private burial ceremony was held at Ridgecrest Cemetery in Jackson. The Cousin Tuny Show aired for more than a decade on WBBJ, which at the time was WDXI.