Essie Mae Williams Butler

Published 12:03 am Thursday, March 17, 2011

Essie Mae Williams Butler, 77, of Moultrie, died Saturday, March 12, 2011, at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

Funeral services will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, March 19, at Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, where the Rev. Alfred Jones is pastor. The Rev. Willie Love will officiate with the Rev. Becky Drew and the Rev. Theron Smith assisting. Burial will follow at the St. James Cemetery in Worth County, Ga. Ramon Hooks, David Wayne Lewis, Marcus Haywood, Willie Carr, John Carr and Carl Eleby will serve as pallbearers. She was born on June 14, 1933, in Mitchell County, Ga., to the late Otis Williams and the late Vanilla Willingham Williams. She was a faithful member of Philco Baptist Church, under the leadership of the Rev. Willie Love. She enjoyed fishing, and working in the yard, her family remembered of her.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Willie Butler; two brothers, Otis Williams and Albert Williams; and two sisters, Etta Mae Butler and Willie Mae Moore.

Survivors include two sons, Rufus Williams and wife Kathy of Sparks, Ga., and Willie Butler and wife Clara of Moultrie; four daughters, Mae Frances Davis and husband Willie, Earline Coleman and husband Hubert, Janet Turner and husband Latrikeus and Janis Butler, all of Moultrie; three brothers, Artie Williams of Camilla, Ga., Johnnie C. Williams and wife Alaina of Tampa, Fla., and Willie C. Williams of Sarasota, Fla.; two sisters, Betique Ismail and husband Mohammed of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Hazer Smith and husband Charlie of Tampa, Fla.; two step-sisters, Pearlie Williams of California and Cynthia James of Tampa, Fla.; step-mother, Levatta Spain Williams of California; one god-daughter, Shakri Lockett of Virginia; two sisters-in-law, Bernice Williams and husband Zorn of Miami, Fla., and Naomi Riley of South Carolina; three brothers-in-law, Otis Butler and wife Minnie of Bartow, Fla., R.V. Flower and wife Costella of Miami, Fla., and Clarence West of Lakeland, Fla.; ten grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

The family will receive friends at 275 Lakeview Acres Road, the home of Janis Butler.

Professional arrangements are by Luke Strong And Son Mortuary, Ltd.

Please leave condolences to the family at www.moultrieobserver.com.