Runell Brooks Foster was the "matriarch of Loganville," a woman so entrenched in the area that the intersection in front of her home bore her name.
A 1925 graduate of Grayson High School, she had three daughters and was famous for her caramel cakes and her love of Jesus. At 110 years old, she was believed to be the third oldest person in the state of Georgia.
She died Friday.
"Mrs. Nell enjoyed eating vegetables from her garden," her obituary reads, "but also loved to order Papa John's pizza, eat cheeseburgers and enjoyed a good bowl of ice cream."
Born on March 27, 1906, Foster was the youngest of 12 children. She was married to her high school sweetheart, Clyde, from 1928 and until he died in 1978. She spent most of her life on the family farm, 150 or so acres spanning the modern day intersection of U.S. 78 and Rosebud Road.
That stretch of road was dubbed the "Runell Brooks Foster Intersection" last year.
"Mrs. Brooks Foster and her family have long been staples in our community," state Sen. Gloria Butler said at the time. "Their family home, the rock house located at the intersection of U.S. Highway 78 and Rosebud Road, is a landmark in the area and it’s abundantly fitting that the intersection where she has lived for over 83 years be named after her."
Earlier this year, Butler sponsored a resolution congratulating Foster on her 110th birthday.
Foster was laid to rest Sunday at the Chestnut Grove Baptist Church Cemetery on Rosebud Road — less than two miles from her home.
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