WILLIAM WASHINGTON

Memorial services were held Saturday, July 17, 2010, at 1:00 p.m. at Young’s Funeral Home in Summit for William James Washington, 77, a native of Amite County and resident of Waukegan, Illinois. Larry Bates officiated. Burial was in Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery.
Mr. Washington peacefully departed this life Thursday, July 8, 2010, at Doctor’s Hospital in Augusta, Georgia.
Born April 9, 1933, in Amite County, Mr. Washington was the son of William and Ethel McGhee Washington, both deceased.
Mr. Washington joined Good Hope Free Will Baptist Church at an early age. After moving to Jackson as a teenager, he joined the Catholic Church and attended Catholic school, where he graduated. He enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving twenty-five years until retiring.
After retirement, Mr. Washington worked thirty years for the Department of Veterans Affairs. He served as a volunteer at the VA Hospital in Waukegan. After his health failed, he returned to his home state of Mississippi.
In addition to his parents, Mr. Washington was preceded in death by his sisters, Beulah Brown, Irene Anderson, Delia Bell, Mary Washington and Marie Washington; a daughter, Oliver Washington; and a host of aunts, nieces, nephews and cousins.
Mr. Washington is survived by one daughter, Jackie Washington of Purvis; one son, Devin Payton of Waukegan; a brother, Rayfield Washington of Smithdale; three devoted nieces, Ida S. Strowder and fiancé Dale of McComb, Shearon B. and Curtis Jackson of Magnolia and Bernice W. and Dennis Turner of McComb; three nephews, John Burns and wife Gloria of Smithdale, James Earl Washington and L.T. Burns and wife Doris, all of New Orleans; two cousins, Mary Morgan and Lillie Mae Beecham and husband Roosevelt, both of Smithdale; a host of cousins, other relatives, church family, and dear friends of Waukegan and Chicago; and a special caregiver, Olivia Payton of Waukegan.