Anne Workman

Anne Workman of Decatur, GA passed away peacefully on September 2, 2011 after a short illness. At the time of her death, she was serving as a Senior Judge for the Superior Courts of Georgia, a member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia and, by appointment of the Supreme Court of Georgia, a member of the Investigative Panel of the State Disciplinary Board of the State Bar of Georgia.
A native of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Judge Workman was a graduate of Duke University and Emory University School of Law. She served DeKalb County government for thirty-five years in four courts, including twenty-six years' service on the bench, where she is remembered both for her even-handed application of legal principles and for her instinctive talent in fulfilling the responsibility of dispensing justice. At a time when women comprised less than four percent of lawyers nationwide, she became the first woman prosecutor in DeKalb County when she began her judicial career as a Solicitor of the Juvenile Court in 1973. She became the first woman judge in DeKalb County when she was appointed as a judge in the Magistrate Division of Recorders Court, later DeKalb County Magistrate Court. In 1984, she was one of the first two women elected to the Bench in DeKalb County, beginning her fourteen year tenure as a judge in the DeKalb County State Court. In 1998, she was elected as a judge of the DeKalb County Superior Court. She served as Chief Judge of the DeKalb County Superior Court and Administrative Judge for the Fourth Judicial Administrative District from 2007 until her retirement from the DeKalb County Bench in 2008.
During her long history of service to the community, she was elected the first woman president of the Council of State Court Judges of Georgia, served as Mentor to the Green Gourd Academy, and was a member of the Board of Court Reporting of the Judicial Council of Georgia, the Executive Committee of the Council of Superior Court Judges of Georgia, the Judicial Council of Georgia, the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia, the DeKalb Bar Association, the DeKalb Lawyers Association and the Lawyer's Club of Atlanta. She was a recipient of the Reginald Heber Smith Legal Aid Society Fellowship and the DeKalb County Bar Association Pioneer Award. Along with her legal work, she also worked tirelessly to improve the lives and living conditions of abandoned and injured animals. Her pets, mostly rescue animals, were her live-in family and she helped place scores of animals in loving homes.
Her many close friends and associates will miss her droll sense of humor, her fun-loving nature, her gift for story-telling, her keen insight, her direct manner and her willingness to offer her wisdom and advice with both personal and professional matters. Her greatest joy was watching the professional development of the many talented young lawyers who began their careers in her courtroom under her tutelage.
Judge Workman, preceded in death by her parents Dr. Belton James Workman and Kathryn Bruton Workman and sister Elizabeth Workman Maxwell, is survived by her brother Dr. B.J. Workman, Jr., sister Margaret Hudson, nephews B.J. Workman III, Frankie M. Workman, Rupert M. Maxwell, Jr., James Taylor Hudson and Chester Hudson, nieces Paula W. Workman, Betty Jane Maxwell Ashley and Susan H. Womack, and great-nieces and nephews.
A memorial service will be held at Glenn Memorial Chapel on the Emory University campus at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, September 9, 2011. A reception will follow the service at Druid Hills Country Club. Graveside services will be held in Woodruff, South Carolina on Saturday, September 10, 2011 at a time to be announced. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Atlanta Pet Rescue and Adoption, Inc., Friends of DeKalb Animals, Inc., Best Friends Animal Society (of Knab, Utah), or Briarcliff Animal Foundation Inc.


Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033