Willie is proceeded in death by his first wife Hazel and Louise Graham, the mother to his sons. Look someone in the eye, smile and share or listen to their story. As a tribute to his life, we should take a moment to recognize this is a good day. He once said he can tell a lot from a man by just observing the way he walked and how he looked you in the eye. He was a father, husband, brother, uncle and friend who showed up when you called. Confronting you with a smile and enthusiastically launching into the same stories as if this was a fresh memory never shared. He was the same way everyday with everyone he met. While many recall Willie as a man with superman strength, unafraid to stand up to any man or men these same folks might also recall a man who motivated and encouraged others to go into business, give up vices, face each day with optimism, stand up for right, and treat everyone with respect. And when his health began failing he would oftentimes say he was having "one of those real good days." He never had a bad day. He loved people and he was able to wheel and deal and talk to people, something he couldn't always do while stuck on cement jobs or working out in the cold. As a result, even though he ran a cement business many people recall Willie buying and selling at flea markets for many years. Until his death he believed the time to work was when your pockets were full, not when your pockets were empty. While other kids went to the movies and bought candy, Smitty watched his money double. For instance, as a child if Willie could hold on to his allowance from the following week, he would get double the next week. Even as an octogenarian, Smitty referenced the lessons his own father taught him. He had lived up to his childhood prediction that one day he would become a businessman. By this time Smitty was making a reputation in the waterproofing and cement industry. In 1969, Smitty relocated to Charlottesville. Later, he would migrate to Washington, DC., where many commonly knew him as "Big James." He often talked of cabarets, night clubs, the $150 plate dinners, the alley gambling, the fights, the midnight meetings in cemeteries, going to bed broke and waking up rich, the fine cars and oh, how he always liked driving them fast! His jobs included picking cotton, tobacco and oranges and driving a Greyhound bus among other things. Just a boy, Willie would reside and work in Florida for many years. She said, it seemed like in a month's time her mother's hair turned white from worry about her fearless son. But it wasn't long before a tearful Lois was watching her mother pack a paper bag sending Willie from Blakely, GA to preserve his life. Lois, afraid of her enemy but more afraid of her big brother, did just what he said and it worked! Little Lois felt like a giant. Willie would be watching from around the curl. Throw dirt in his eye, kick him between the legs and keep doing it. "No, you gon beat Moses and if you don't, I'm gon beat you!" Right then Willie told Lois how to fight. "Willie D, you gon go beat Moses now?" Lois was excited. She watched him pull off the hand me down, piece of a belt. Her brother took his shirt and wiped the tears from her face. Dusty and crying she ran to her big brother to tell him Moses, a little bully had beat her again. His younger sister, Lois recalls how her big brother taught her to fight. But when these tools did not work, he was a fierce fighter who feared no man black or white. Growing up in the South taught Willie to disarm animosity with a smile and respect. But Willie would proceed to live a remarkable life and experience miracles on more than one occasion. He is survived by his favorite youngest sister Lois and his younger brother Alex.Īs a child, he heard the doctor telling his father that a pneumonia-stricken Willie was on his way out of this world. The second of six children he is preceded in death by his favorite older sister Bessie who would readily take his parents' spankings for him, and his brothers John"JT" and Edward. "Smitty" as he was commonly known, was born April 3, 1942, in Blakely, GA, to Alex and Idel Smith. Smith departed this life on July 16, 2023, surrounded by his loving family.
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