Mother. Wife. Pastor Foreman. Libby. Lady “O.”

Beatrice Olivia A. Foreman had many roles and was known by many names throughout her long life, which included decades as co-founding pastor of the Abundant Life Church of Christ.

Foreman died Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, at the age of 82, and the accomplishments she left in her wake promise to influence the Richmond community for generations to come.

“I’m so glad to have known this woman of God,” said Pastor Cheryl Frazier of Beracah Faith Ministries International during the funeral service for Foreman held at Abundant Life on Sept. 9. “She literally changed my life.”

Foreman was born in Richmond on Oct. 14, 1941, the seventh of eight children of Creade and Mabel Anderson. Growing up in the Carver area of the city, she graduated from Maggie Walker High School in 1959.

Foreman later graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor’s in education and associate degrees in business administration and biblical studies. Later, she began the Abundant Life Christian Academy and founded the Power-Filled Women’s Conference, which ran for over 20 years.

Her focus on faith led her and her husband, Steve I. Foreman, to found Abundent Life Church of Christ in the 1980s, where she served as co-pastor for over 30 years.

Beyond her church work, Foreman pursued diverse interests including cooking, sewing, swimming and travel. She applied these skills generously, crafting curtains, pillows and outfits for her children, tailoring her own clothing, and preparing meals for community members.

Foreman also was an author of multiple books, including “The Genesis Series: Stop Blaming Eve,” “Gifts of the Spirit,” “Christian Living in the 21st Century,” and “Spiritual Temperament and Personalities.”

She was preceded in death by her parents, her siblings Percy Lee Brown, Harold Anderson Sr., Arthur Anderson Sr., Bernice Anderson, Nancy Anderson, Clara Braye, and Marjorie Johnson, her oldest daughter, Tonya F. Edgerton, and her grandson, Ayden Foreman.

She is survived by her husband, children Steve Foreman III, Adrian Gary Foreman, Isaac Edgerton, Kimberly F. Smith, and Monique Folston, nine grandchildren, a great-granddaughter, and numerous other relatives, adopted daughters, church family and friends.