Mrs. Ocelia Gilleylen

December 21, 1930 - December 12, 2016

Mrs. Ocelia Gilleylen was born December 21, 1930 in Aberdeen, Mississippi to the late Walter and Mary Dobbs. While in Mississippi, Ocelia attended Athens School and later in life, married Douglas Ray Gilleylen in 1951, and to this union three children were born: Marvin Gilleylen, Patricia (Gilleylen) Moore, and Dennis Gilleylen. For several years she served as a church secretary at Tabernacle Church Of God In Christ under the leadership of the late Bishop Robert Hill. She also worked at a local candy shop and served as a nurse’s aide at Matheson nursing home. While she held many important jobs, her most loved was being a mother to her three children! In her leisure she enjoyed cooking, sewing, and reading her Bible. Ocelia truly loved the Lord, and even in her last days she was seen raising her hand to praise His name. She loved others unconditionally, and those who knew her would say the same. Ocelia was preceded in death by her father Walter Dobbs and her mother Mary Dobbs; brothers, Willis Dobbs, Ervin Dobbs, Walter Dobbs Jr., Isiah Dobbs, L. C. Dobbs, Prentice Dobbs and John Henry Dobbs; sisters Lizzie Smith and Willie Bell Dobbs and granddaughter Latoya Gilleylen. She leaves to cherish her memory; husband of sixty-five years, Douglas Gilleylen of Kalamazoo, Michigan; sons Marvin (Barbara) Gilleylen Sr. of Kalamazoo, Michigan and Dennis (Renee) Gilleylen of Kalamazoo, Michigan; daughter Patricia (Kelvin) Moore of Kalamazoo, Michigan; grandchildren Troy (Michelle) Gilleylen of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marvin Gilleylen Jr. of San Antonio, Texas, Darien Gilleylen of Atlanta, Georgia, Dennis Gilleylen Jr. of California, Sharayl and Jaylin Moore of Kalamazoo, Michigan and, Andrew and Jaxson Gilleylen of Three Rivers, Michigan; ten great grandchildren; sister Mary Ellen (Dobbs) Acker of Aberdeen Mississippi; brother Bernice Dobbs of Aberdeen, Mississippi; a host of nieces and nephews; and special friends Henry and Loretta Grayson, Mother Lessie Moore, Mother Mary Carver, and Mother Pearlie Kirk, all of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ocelia was truly loved and will be greatly missed by her family and friends!