Willie Wilson

Willie Bell Wilson was the eighth child of twelve children born to the late Mr. & Mrs. Wesley and Addie Bell Wilson in Bessemer, Alabama. Willie Bell was a product of the Bessemer School System having graduated from Dunbar High School. After graduating from Dunbar High School, she moved to Newark, New Jersey and joined St. James A.M.E. Church under Reverend Manfield Jackson. While attending St. James, Willie Bell was a Sunday School Teacher, member of the Cathedral Choir, Mass Choir, class leader, a member of the Kitchen Committee, and the President of the Parsonage Committee. St. James honored Willie Bell in February of 1994 with a fifty year Membership Plaque. After living in Newark for some years, she moved to East Orange, New Jersey. She became a volunteer worker at East Orange General Hospital and a volunteer clerk for the Family Health Center. She retired, after many diligent years as floor manger from F.W. Woolworth Department Store. After residing in East Orange, N.J., Willie Bell moved back to her hometown of Bessemer, Alabama in 1998, and reunited with her home church Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church under Reverend H.W. Anthony. She served on the Stewardess Board, volunteered at UAB West and was a member of the Fairfield Senior Care Community Center. She was consecrated by the Rt. Reverend T. Larry Kirkland to the Order of Deaconess in 2007. Deaconess Willie Bell leaves to cherish her memories: one daughter, Geraldine W. (William) Truss; grandson, Anthony (Katie) Truss all of Fairfield; two sisters, Mary Fontella Johnson, Jessie W. Studemeyer; one brother, Alvin Wilson all of Bessemer; and a host of nieces, nephews, friends and church family.