A legacy is more than what we leave behind. It’s what continues to grow because we lived.
For more than 130 years, Royal Neighbors of America® has celebrated members whose compassion and courage outlast them, and whose strength becomes the seed of something more enduring than our time on earth. That same spirit shines in the life and legacy of Tamekia Hunter Ross of Sumter, South Carolina, founder of Faith Strong, a community of hope that continues to lift others long after her own courageous battle has ended.
When life handed Tamekia some of its hardest battles, she chose to respond with love. After being diagnosed with breast cancer a second time, she turned her pain into purpose and founded Faith Strong, a safe place where survivors could lean on one another to find comfort in faith and friendship. What began as her personal response to hardship became a ministry of resilience and joy.
Tamekia was known affectionately as “Minister T.” A proud graduate of Sumter High School and Francis Marion University, she built a successful career in law, serving more than 30 years as a paralegal and later as Intake Process Manager and Front Office Supervisor at Burnette Shutt & McDaniel in Columbia, South Carolina. But beyond the office, her true calling was service. After completing ministerial training and receiving her ordination, she poured her energy into encouraging others, reminding them that strength is found in faith, and faith is found in community.
In 2018, following her second diagnosis, Tamekia founded Faith Strong’s BREASTies Support Group. Her mission was simple: show up with love and practical help. Every month, the BREASTies gather to exhale, share, and heal together. Between meetings, encouragement continues through handwritten notes, Secret BREASTie gifts, and birthday celebrations for each survivor. The annual BREASTies Survivors Retreat gives participants a few days to rest, renew, and rediscover laughter that sounds like recovery.
Today, Faith Strong has served more than a hundred women across the United States, expanding Tamekia’s message far beyond her hometown of Sumter, South Carolina. The organization recently welcomed its first Male BREASTie, fulfilling one of Tamekia’s long-held goals: to ensure that everyone touched by breast cancer feels seen, supported, and loved.
Tamekia often called herself a “Meta-Survivor,” a phrase that reflected both her diagnosis and her mindset. She saw survival not as merely enduring, but as transcending—living in service, shining light for others even in the darkest valley. Her faith anchored everything she did.
That faith and fortitude caught national attention. Tamekia appeared on Live with Kelly and Ryan, shared her testimony on stages across the country, and even built a friendship with gospel legend Pastor Shirley Caesar, who endorsed her book, High Heels in Low Places. Yet those who knew her best say her greatest joy wasn’t in public recognition. It was in the quiet moments of prayer, the laughter of her BREASTies, and the relief in someone’s eyes when she told them, “We’ve got you.”
Even while facing Stage IV metastatic breast cancer, Tamekia lived her motto: “I don’t look like what I am going through.” Every three weeks, she traveled hundreds of miles for chemotherapy treatments while balancing 12-hour workdays, family life, and her growing ministry. Her husband, Arnteyus “AJ” Ross, their children, and her close-knit family were her daily source of joy. Those who knew her best recall that even on her hardest days, she found ways to (literally) sparkle, donning sequins, rhinestones, and her trademark animal prints. Her light refused to dim.
When Tamekia passed away on August 29, 2025, her family, friends, and the Faith Strong community mourned deeply, but her mission did not end. It multiplied. Faith Strong continues to grow, guided by her words, her work, and her unwavering belief that love can heal what medicine cannot.
Royal Neighbors of America has honored Tamekia’s leadership and legacy with a 2025 Nation of Neighbors℠ empowerment award and a $20,000 grant. The funding sustains Faith Strong’s third-Saturday support gatherings and expands the reach of special outings, ensuring more moments of renewal, more shared laughter, and more days when survivors can rest in joy. The grant also helps provide rides to treatment and resources for those navigating life after diagnosis, serving as tangible expressions of the very promise Tamekia made to every survivor she met.
Faith Strong stands today as a lighthouse for others and a living tribute to Tamekia’s conviction that faith, friendship, and service can transcend time itself. Her story mirrors the heart of what Royal Neighbors was founded upon more than 130 years ago. When we insure lives and support women, we build communities that outlast us all.
Just as Royal Neighbors’ founders turned compassion into a movement that continues to protect families through the power of life insurance, Tamekia turned her personal trial into a legacy that will keep giving comfort for years to come. Both remind us that the essence of life insurance—and of life itself—is love carried forward.
