Willie Mae Edwards

Mrs. Willie Mae Parker Edwards

FLORENCE — Funeral service for Mrs. Willie Mae Parker Edwards will be conducted 1PM Friday, June 19, 2009 at Savannah Grove Freewill Baptist Church, Coward. Interment will follow in the church cemetery directed by Smith Funeral Home of Florence, LLC.

Willie Mae, the fifth child of six children, was born in Florence County, October 7, 1924 to the late David and Edith Black Parker. She died Saturday, June 13, 2009 at Orangeburg Regional Medical Hospital in Orangeburg.

Willie, as she was affectionately called by family and friends, was educated in the public schools of Florence County, graduating from Wilson High School in 1944. She retired from the Amalgamated Service and Allied Industries in Brooklyn, NY.

Early in life, Willie joined Meadow Prong Baptist Church. She married John L. Smith and from this union a daughter, Margie Lee was born. She moved to New York in 1953 met and married George Edwards who preceded her in death. She joined Mount Zion Baptist Church in Queens, NY where she was an active member and served faithfully as a deaconess. In 2001 Willie Mae relocated to Orangeburg, SC and affiliated her membership with the Savannah Grove Freewill Baptist Church Family in Coward, SC.

Willie Mae was preceded in death by all of her siblings.

Survivors include her daughter, Margie Lee Benjamin of Orangeburg, SC; two grandchildren, Gerard Benjamin of Florence, SC and Tarachel Benjamin (Shelby) Goodwin of Birmingham, AL; four great-grandchildren; a niece, Louetter Henneghan of Florence, SC; a host of nieces; nephews; cousins, extended family members; friends and the church family.

The family will receive friends at the home of her niece, Louetter Henneghan, 1556 Malden Dr., Apt. A, Florence.