Graveside services will be held Friday for a well-known senior in the community, Willie B. McGinnis.
Services for McGinnis will be held Friday at 11 a.m. at Richwood Memorial Gardens. Social distancing rules will apply, under the direction of Smith Funeral Home.
Mrs. McGinnis was 80 years old.
Her official obituary reads as follows:
Willie B. Coleman Mcginnis was born on October 7, 1940. She was born to the late Lorean Green Haney and Fred Coleman Jr. Willie B. was born in Pineville, La. She moved to Winnsboro, La. until the age of three. She later moved to Monroe, La with her family. She attended Martin Temple C.M.E. Church’s kindergarten on Adams st.
As a girl, she enjoyed watching her mother cook cakes and pies. She loved making dolls out of bottles with straw hair.
Her mother adopted her cousin Andrew White.
She attended Monroe Colored High Elementary and Carroll High School.
Willie B. enjoyed being in the school plays and performing for crowds. She graduated from Carroll High School in 1958. She didn’t waste any time before she went off to Grambling State University where she studied general studies. She attended for only one year because her mom didn’t have enough money to send her back to school.
After her first year of college, she met James Williams in 1960 and bore him six children. She went to Louisiana Business College where she completed her studies as an Executive Secretary in 1968. She landed a job with LSU Extension Service as a nutritionist for 25 years. She retired at the age of 55. She married Rupert McGinnis in 1987 until death(1999).
After retirement, she volunteered to help distribute commodities to the needy. During elections time she worked as a poll watcher at the recreation center polling station. She enjoyed spending time with and raising her grandchildren.
In 2007, Willie B. received news that she had a blood clot in one of her lungs. She didn’t let that stop her from enjoying life. She enjoyed the family game night with her granddaughters. She also enjoyed working on puzzles with her great-granddaughter.
She attended New Tabernacle Baptist Church under the pastorate of Pastor P.C. Keal. She was baptized under Pastor Roosevelt Wright, Jr. in 1999.
As a member of New Tabernacle Baptist Church, she was the director of the Saturday Friends Ministry along with family members assisting for several years. She fed about 50-60 people a week. A ministry she continued until her health began to fail. She was an active supporter of Sunday School, the Scouting program, and Excellence Academy. She also helped in the church funeral ministry by providing meals for repast fellowships.
She was preceded in death by her mother Lorean Green Haney, Father Fred Coleman Jr., Her uncle Ceasar Clark, Husband Rupert McGinnis.
She leaves to cherish her memory: Five children: Maurice Williams Monroe, La., Michelle Halley (Jaylee) Lake Village, Ark.; Laura Green (Cornelius) Monroe, La., LeaTricia Hamilton(Frank) Monroe, La., Cornelius Williams Monroe, La., her brother Andrew White and a host of grandchildren and Great Grandchildren.
