Service Date: June 2, 2018
Time of Service: 2:00 PM
Location of Service: Grant Chapel AME Church, 387 E. Franklin Street, Oviedo, FL 32765
Contact: (407) 953-2691
Date of Visitation: June 1, 2018
Time of Visitation: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Location of Service: Golden’s Funeral Home, Inc., 210 N. Pennsylvania Avenue, Winter Park, FL 32789
Contact: (407) 740-6784
Remembering Willie White, Jr.
Affectionately known as “Ballback”
“To everything is a season and time to every purpose under the heaven.
A time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck
up that which is planted…a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to
mourn, and a time to dance…”
A Time to be Born…
Willie White, Jr. was born in Oviedo, FL on March 1, 1942 and was the
second oldest of eight children born to the late Willie White, Sr. and
Lillie Ruth (Booker) White.
A Time to Learn…
Growing up in the Oviedo community, Willie attended the Oviedo
Elementary Colored School (first through eighth grade), where Mr.
Stanley Muller was the principal and he knew him well. He then went
on to attend the Crooms Academy in Sanford, Florida.
A Time to Grow…
After high school, he married Cora Mae Jones, settled in Oviedo and
later moved to Jacksonville, Florida. Their union was blessed with six
children. He later married Paula Lynn Robinson and together they
welcomed three children in Jacksonville, Florida.
A Time to Work and Enjoy…
Willie left high school at an early age and began working, as most young
people did during that time. He worked on the season traveling with
the harvest. During this time, he developed a love for planting and
growing things. He had a “growing hand”, he could plant anything,
anywhere and it would grow! He always had a garden and he always
shared his harvest. He would eventually begin driving trucks cross
country. He worked for Ryder for more than 20 years before retiring.
A Time to Know the Lord…
Throughout his life, he always knew and loved the Lord. He was daring,
unafraid, courageous and refused to let anyone stop him from doing
what he wanted to do. It cost him sometimes; but, God always took
care of him. He had a confidence rarely seen and it showed in
everything he did, his walk and his talk.
He used to say, “God thinks of me like David, a man after his own heart.
His favorite Bible verses were Psalms 91 and 93. His confidence came
from knowing that God would take care of him no matter what;
because he loved him.
“In his later years, his relationship began to really grow with the Lord.
Prior to leaving Orlando, Florida in 2012, Mr. White joined
Fountainhead Missionary Baptist Church, under the leadership of
Pastor Victor Blair, in Oviedo, Florida where he was a faithful member.
He loved attending church. After moving to Jacksonville, Mr. White
joined Shiloh Baptist Church, where the Rev. H. B. Charles is the pastor
and again was faithful to his church.
A Personality like no Other…
People often wonder how he got the name “Ballback”. Throughout his
life he had a love for dancing. He danced with his dad, Mr. Willie
White, Sr. who use to say he was “balling back” and from there the
name stuck…he was affectionately called “Ballback” by those who knew
him and loved him. His personality was so big, you couldn’t help but
want to be around him just for the way he made you feel; both young
and old. He was a gift from the Lord.
A Time to Mourn…
Willie White was preceded in death by his mother and father Willie and
Lillie White, Sr.; a son Willie Lee White; two brothers Charles White Sr,
and Alfred White; two sisters Joretta and Elizabeth Coffie, and a
grandson Billy White.
He leaves to cherish many fond memories of a full life lived:
Wife Cora Mae White Oviedo Fl, Paula Robinson White Jacksoville Fl
Children: Gloria White, Glenda (Rodney) Wilson, Teaira (Leon) Knight, Ronnie
(April) White, Emily (Demetric) Williams, Bobbie Robinson, Willis
Robinson, Jason Robinson, several loving grands, great-grands, nieces,
nephews, cousins and friends.
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