Willie Edward Sanders “aka” Little Daddy slipped away from his earthly home and entered into his heavenly home on April 30, 2020 at 7:48 pm at McLeod Regional Medical Center, Florence, SC.
Little Daddy was the sixth child born on December 16, 1947 in Mullins, SC to the late Clinton and Almenia Smalls Sanders. Little Daddy was a graduate of Palmetto High School, Class of 1967. Little Daddy was a faithful member of St. Paul Baptist Church under the leadership of Pastor Mack T. Hines.
At a young age, during the summers, Little Daddy worked for the Upper Marlboro Tobacco Market. After graduating from high school, he left to go to work for Mr. Boston Liquor, Boston, MA for a few years. He later returned to Mullins, SC where he worked and retired from Mullins Leaf Tobacco Market, Mullins, SC and Upper Marlboro Tobacco Market, Upper Marlboro, MD. Little Daddy traveled to several of the southern states such as Tennessee and Kentucky to work with the tobacco market.
Little Daddy was preceded in death by his parents, Clinton and Almenia Sanders, a brother, Wilson Joseph (WJ) Sanders and a sister, Geraldine Gibbs.
Little Daddy leaves to cherish fond and loving memories: a daughter, Michele R. Gilchrist, Jersey City, NJ; seven grandchildren: Lyndsay, Kalimah, Nifesha, Daryl, Mercedes, Kamira and Imani; seven great-grandchildren; five siblings; three brothers: Clinton (Catherine) Sanders of Bronx, NY, caregiver, Arthur (Barbara) Sanders of Mullins, SC and Leroy (Ella) Sanders of Mt. Pleasant, SC; two sisters, Wilhelmenia (Thurman) Everett of Leland, NC and caregiver, Bessie (Donnie) Davis of Mullins, SC; an uncle, Fred Smalls of Washington, DC. A niece that he raised as a daughter, Yvonne (Robert) Holcomb of Dinwidde County, VA, two young men that he loved and took as his sons, Gregory “Ken” Sanders and Henry Staley. A lifetime and best friends: Rev. Jerome Billups, Thomas Hardnett, Ernest “Bo” Samuels, Ida Ruth Pee and Victoria Miller, and a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
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