Willie U. Wilson Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

Willie Ulmer Wilson was born on August 20, 1937 to Ulmer Elijah Wilson and Estella Grant Wilson in Garnet, South Carolina. He was the fourth of six children. He departed this life on January 30, 2019 while residing at Parkview Nursing & Rehabilitation Center. Willie was affectionately called Dad, Bill, Pop Pop, or Uncle Bill by his family and friends. Before residing in the Parkview Nursing Home, Bill became a member of Victory Christian Fellowship and was baptized there in 2008. Bill was always looking for ways to help others and would gladly volunteer to take on any task. He embodied the spirit of love and giving all of his life and extended this to everyone he met. Long after his own children moved out of the house, their friends visited and called just to talk to him. Growing up as a young boy in the rural south, Bill was only able to attend grade school. After those years, he was required to work on the family farm. This upbringing didn’t diminish the man he would become because it gave him a strong work ethic and it taught him how to work hard without complaining, how to be resourceful, and how to construct things with his hands. He was not formally educated, but most people who met him would agree that he was one of the smartest men they have ever known. Bill had a gift for being able to just look at something and understand how it worked and how to put it together. He used that God given talent successfully by earning a substantial & prosperous living for his family. Bill was employed as a Laborer at Henkels & McCoy for many years. He began his career at Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) in the early seventies and retired after 22 years of dedicated service. Bill married his childhood sweetheart, Johnnie Mae Wright in 1960. From the day they were married, they were inseparable. You rarely saw one without the other. They were referred to as Johnnie Mae & Bill not by their individual names. From this union seven children were born, five girls and two boys. He loved and supported his family in all of their endeavors. What Bill cherished most was family and sports. He would do anything for his family. If anyone called him that needed help, he would come running, day or night. Family was everything to him. He also enjoyed teaching people everything that he knew, from remodeling houses to refurbishing cars to playing cards and checkers, which he never let you win. You had to earn every win. He would laugh and talk about it for days if you beat him. His second passion was watching sports. He was a die-hard Eagles, Phillies and Sixers fan. A perfect day for him was eating butter pecan ice cream while watching sports with family. He is predeceased by his parents and his siblings; Daisy Moses, Washington “Sparky” Wilson, James Wilson, and Rosa Lee White as well as his daughter, Elaine Wilson Johnson, and his son, Willie “Otis” Wilson. He leaves to cherish: his loving wife, Johnnie Mae Wilson; his children; Ernestine Roach (Trent), Dwayne Wilson (Quamaine), Pamela Thomas (Derek), Jacqueline Smith (Chris), and Michelle Ross (Monte), his sister; Annie Mae Brown; his sister in-laws, Elizabeth Wilson Ford and Evelyn Wright; his grandchildren; Marcel Roach, Tamara Butler, Kurtis Roach, Ariel Lester, Nicole Wilson, Christine Smith, Catherine Smith, Jason Thomas, Justin Ross, Lauren Ross, and Dwayne Wilson, Jr.; his Great-Grandsons Ayden Roach, Zion Butler, and Bryson Roach; a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, other family members and friends.

Willie U. Wilson

August 20, 1937 - January 30, 2019