Mrs. Lessie Mae Curtis

On January 22, 1932, Lessie Mae Leggett was welcomed into the world - the first born child of Mason and Mary Leggett in Foules, Louisiana. Even at the beginning of her life, she was a cheerful child with a contagious smile and a loving nature. She was a natural born nurturer and, as she matured, Lessie became a mentor within the family and served as a role model for her younger eleven brothers and sisters. Lessie accepted Christ at an early age, was baptized and became a long time member of Greater St. Lawrence Baptist Church in Alexandria, LA. The family worked extra hard to save money for Lessie to go to college. Her first desire was to become a nurse; however, she ultimately chose to help others in another way and she became a Preschool teacher at Greater St. Lawrence Baptist Church. Throughout her years at this school, Lessie was also able to teach some of her own siblings in the classroom, thus becoming their spiritual teacher in the classroom and their second mother at home. In 1961, Lessie moved with her three children from her first marriage to Kalamazoo, Michigan. There she joined her cousins Ora Lee Hunt and Rosa Lee Dorsey and found many new job opportunities. During the early years in Kalamazoo, Lessie met the love of her life, Willie Curtis, Jr. They were joined in marriage in 1965 and from their union, had one daughter, Kimberly. Lessie transferred her church membership and made Mt Zion Baptist Church her spiritual home. She was an active member of the Usher Board, until her health no longer allowed. Throughout her life, Lessie’s family and friends came to rely on her objective opinions, grounded and thoughtful perspective, love and care, and most importantly her honesty. She treated everyone as individuals and never made assumptions. She was kind and giving, sensitive and gentle, and you could always count on her to offer encouragement, words of wisdom and support. Her family was the most important part of her life. The vast majority of her vacations were spent in travels to visit family members across the country. She was known in family circles for never traveling without her “lucky” Red Travel Blazer! Lessie enjoyed a long career in retail sales. To this day, many of her coworkers and customers remember her fondly because of her kind, caring and soft spoken ways. Preceding her in death are Lessie's parents, Mason and Mary Leggett; sisters, Daisy Mahomes and Betty Harris; brother, Mason (Joe) Leggett Jr.; and her beautiful daughter, Jacqueline Washington Dyer. Lessie leaves to cherish her memory two daughters, Sharon Williams of Columbia, SC, and Kimberly Curtis of Chicago, IL and one son, Victor Washington of Kalamazoo; three brothers, Robert (Earline) Leggett of Aurora, CO, Isiah (Catherine) Leggett of Burtonsville, MD, and Floyd (Delores) Leggett of Baton Rouge, LA.; five sisters, Millie (Freddie) Williams and Patricia West of Baton Rouge, LA ; Ora Lee (Jasper) Stephens of Orlando, FL; Rosa Lee Thompson of Alexandria, LA and Susan (Juan) Johnson of Laurel, MD; in-laws Shirley (Joe) Leggett of Glen Burnie, MD, James (Daisy) Mahomes of Baton Rouge; Betty Fisher, Richard Fisher, Charles (Rosemary) Fisher, Anna Williams and James Fisher all of Kalamazoo, MI. She will be deeply missed by her beloved eight grandchildren, nine great grandchildren and a host of other relatives and friends. Lessie will also be deeply missed by her very special ‘sister cousin’ Ora Lee Hunt of Kalamazoo who has always been her closest friend and dearest companion.

Mrs. Lessie Mae Curtis

January 22, 1932 - August 26, 2013