Willie L. Marshall

Obituary

Willie Lee Marshall was born July 22, 1939, to the late Morris Sr. and Augusta Marshall in Demopolis, Alabama. The Marshalls moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1944. Willie attended Lincoln Elementary School, along with her brothers and sisters. Willie graduated from Parker High School and furthered her education by attending Tuskegee Institute, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Willie served Christ as a young girl 1st at Zion Hill Baptist Church and then later at First Baptist Church, in the West Princeton district of Birmingham, Alabama. After leaving college, Willie moved to Brooklyn, New York and married by 1967. She opened a soul food restaurant in 1968 and was a dietician at a hospital near the Crown Heights district in Brooklyn. Willie later moved to Los Angeles, California. She worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District as a substitute teacher for many years. Willie later purchased a home and moved to Perris, California, transferring her employment to Riverside Unified School District, where she later retired.

Willie did not have any children of her own, but was a mother to many. While living in Los Angeles, Willie nurtured and raised her young cousin, Yukiko Marshall, from the age of 4 years old. She also assisted in raising her nephews, Alfie and Terrance Savage, and their twin sisters, Shaunai and Shauntrai Byers. Being an educator, Willie was very intelligent. She was also very good with her hands. Willie loved to cook, canned her own fruit preserves, and enjoyed sewing.

With her talents, she created several one of a kind dresses and bags over the years. Willie opened her home to those in need. She took on several foster children and rented rooms in her home to relatives and close friends. Willie was well respected within her family as the matriarch and throughout each community in which she lived and served.

Willie enjoyed retirement for several years. She became ill in October 2023, later being hospitalized in February 2024. Willie returned home in March 2024, needing around the clock care.

Willie Lee Marshall completed her earthly assignment and God called her home on July 24,

2024. She joins her parents, Morris Sr and Augusta Marshall; siblings Morris Marshall Jr, Clarence, Arthenia (Wilkerson), and Augusta (Byers), all reunited with our Lord. Willie leaves to cherish her memory Yukiko Marshall (Kiko); nephews Terrance Savage (Terry), Morris Marshall Ill (Sport), Rennis Wilkerson Jr (Red); nieces Faye Marshall (Koko), Renthenia Quinine (Mookie), Clylencia Byers (Lencia), Shaunai Byers (Nai) and Shauntrai Byers (Trai); great nieces Faye Jefferson (Pebbles), Shaquilah Howard (Lulu), Zahnai Byers Moody, and Miracle Jones Byers; great nephews John Smith (Hun Hun), Kalani Clark, Kemontae Byers; great great niece Ra'myah Populus; 1st Cousin Israel Connor; Sister in Law Lina Marshall (Clarence), and a host of other relatives and friends.

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