Bertha Brown Farrar

bertha farrar

November 20, 1934 ~ January 6, 2025

Born in: Pleasant Grove, Alabama
Resided in: Atlanta, Georgia

Bertha Brown Farrar, aged 90, of Atlanta, Georgia, passed away peacefully on January 6, 2025. Bertha was the eldest child of Thomas P. and Nellie C. Brown of Pleasant Grove, AL. She was preceded in death by her son, Gregory Wayne Farrar and her daughter, Debra Farrar Frueh. She is survived by daughters, Cheryl Farrar Ernst (John) of Woodstock, GA and Leisa Farrar of Gretna, LA. She is also survived by granddaughters, Jennifer Frueh Labrador (Miguel) and Madison Ernst Mantle (Justin) and two great-grandsons.

Bertha graduated from Howard College (now Samford University) with a Bachelor of Science degree. While raising her four children she began a fifty-year career in science working with the U.S. Public Health Service on Staten Island, NY and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, GA. She spent most of her career working at CDC. She began her tenure working at CDC in Chemistry in the Bureau of Labs, then moved into Licensure and Proficiency Testing of laboratories traveling within the contiguous 48 states and finally accepting a position in the Special Pathogens Branch (SPB) where she worked until her retirement at 85 years of age. Bertha worked with all viruses studied in the SPB including Lassa fever and hantavirus. During her time in Diagnosis, she worked in the high containment lab and the old hot lab, in the Lassa Clinic in Sierra Leon and collected samples for the Smithsonian and Zoo Atlanta. Her personal interests included being an avid global traveler, a voracious reader, a food aficionado, a lover of culture and the arts, a smooth jazz fan and her involvement in her church.

A private family memorial will be held in her honor.

Contributions in her memory can be made to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Zoo Atlanta or Doctors Without Borders.

The family invites you to share your fond memories and condolences online at the Cremation Society of Georgia.

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  1. Leisa says:

    I love you, mommy.


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