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Freda Tomblin, governor’s mother, dies at 80

Photo from The Charleston Gazette Freda Tomblin
Photo from The Charleston Gazette
Freda Tomblin

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Freda Mae Tomblin, the owner of a large and successful greyhound breeding kennel in Southern West Virginia and the mother of Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, died Saturday. She was 80. Her death was announced by the Governor’s Office.

“Our beloved mother was the rock of our family and taught me the importance of education, hard work and caring for others — West Virginia values that live on today,” Gov. Tomblin said in a prepared statement. “Joanne and I, along with our entire family, appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”

Freda Tomblin’s other son, Carl, said at a court appearance in June that he had moved back in with his parents to help his mother, who had recently been diagnosed with leukemia.

Sen. Joe Manchin, who preceded Tomblin as governor, said he was deeply saddened by Freda Tomblin’s death.

“We extend our deepest condolences to all Freda Mae’s family and friends,” Manchin said in a prepared statement, “as they grieve the passing of a truly wonderful West Virginian.”

Freda Tomblin was born Freda Jarrell in 1933 in Banco, W.Va. She was one of five children of Robert and Hazell Jarrell, of Chapmanville.

For years she was a successful business woman in Logan County…

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