Annie Middleton

Annie McWilliams Middleton

Beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt passed away peacefully on October 26 after battling post-Covid lung disease and memory issues. She was but a few months before a planned 80th birthday celebration. Annie Young McWilliams, born on December 19, 1942 in Eufaula, Alabama, was the first child of Mary Josephine Young McWilliams and Jack Hugh McWilliams. She graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School in 1960, and attended Shorter University and Duquesne University. She graduated from Regent University with a master's in education. Her career in journalism began as features editor for the Virginia-Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia. In Georgia she served as the public affairs officer for Polk School District in Cedartown and as a counseling consultant for the Floyd County Library Association. While her daughter Katie completed a diploma in Cobb County, she worked with the Public Housing Authority in Marietta, Georgia, as a resident advocate. Public service for the poor and powerless was her mantra. Annie was a resident in Franklin, Tennessee, for the last three decades with her husband Jimmy Dwight Middleton, and was director of the Boys and Girls Club and an associate of Target locally. Her gardening skills made their residence at Orleans Estates the envy of her neighbors and friends. Her wide-ranging activism included civil rights, women's rights, and permaculture. Caring and literate, her voice on these issues will be sorely missed. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, John William McWilliams. She is deeply mourned by her husband Jimmy and his family, and most profoundly by her daughter Harriett Kathleen (Katie) McWilliams and her husband Derrick, her grandson Iniko McWilliams Figures, her sister Laura McWilliams Lester, her nieces Annie Shay Lester and Mary David Lester, her nephew John Lawrence Lester, and their children. A memorial service is planned for the future and her family welcomes remarks on her passing and influence on social media.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to one of her favorite charities:

SPLC: https://support.splcenter.org/site/Donation2?idb=888709916&DONATION_LEVEL_ID_SELECTED=1&df_id=2840&mfc_pref=T&2840.donation=form1&idb=%5B%5BS76:idb%5D%5D

Arbor Day Foundation: https://shop.arborday.org/commemorative-trees-in-memory

Common Cause: https://actionnetwork.org/forms/make-an-honor-or-memorial-gift?_ga=2.59235629.1218059426.1667331616-186166813.1667331616