Lillian B Quarles

Lillian Quarles was born to Leonard and Rebecca Benson on September 11, 1931, and is a native of Lawnside, NJ. Her early education included Lawnside Elementary School and Haddon Heights High School. Mrs. Quarles earned a Bachelor of Education degree from West Virginia State University. Her postgraduate studies were done at the University of Delaware, Temple University, Penn State University, and Arcadia University (formerly known as Beaver College) where she received a Master of Education degree.

Lillian began her teaching career in New Castle County, DE, and in 1960 she moved to Willow Grove, PA, and began teaching in the Abington Public School District from which she retired in 1985.

Lillian served as Minister of Music at New Bethel A.M.E. Church, Willow Grove, for many years, and as Youth Choir Director at McKinley Church, Willow Grove, for several years. She also accompanied the Mass Choir of Second Baptist Church, Doylestown, PA.

Mrs. Quarles’ memberships included Omega Chapter #89 - Order of the Eastern Star, Pyramid Court #17 - Daughter of Isis, Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees (PASR), the Boosters Club of Willow Grove, a Life Member of the W. Virginia State University Alumni Association and a volunteer at the Willow Grove Senior Center.

Mrs. Quarles received several community and church recognition awards for her Christian and educational services to the community. These awards include:

• Community Service Award for Outstanding Dedicated and Untiring Christian and Educational Services to Youth (1977)

• Dedicated Service to the Quarles Ensemble (1977)

• Citizens for Progress – Malcolm X for Leadership (1982)

• Recognition for Commitment and Dedication in the Music Dept. of New Bethel AME Church, Willow Grove, PA (1985)

• Parent’s Guild of McKinley Memorial Baptist Church – Dedicated Youth Service (1990)

• Willow Grove Branch NAACP – Dedicated Community Service (1991)

• Listed in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (1992)

• Youth Ministry of McKinley Memorial Baptist Church – Adult of the Year (1995)

• Outstanding Service to the Youth of McKinley Memorial Baptist Church (1996)

• Cpl. Wm. A. Sydnor Post #3398 VFW – for Community Service (1997)

• The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, House of Representatives Citation - Recipient of the 15th Annual Martin Luther King Memorial Award (2006)

In 1975, Mrs. Quarles distinguished herself as Founder of the Quarles Ensemble, an interdenominational, non-profit, gospel choir, organized for the purpose of involving young adults in doing a greater work for God through sermons in song. The group has been on radio and television, and has rendered concerts free of charge in nursing homes, prisons, churches and auditoriums throughout the greater Delaware Valley and in Bermuda. The group had a final program in October 2021, as they celebrated 46 years of service.

Mrs. Quarles, was married to Alfred B. Quarles for 53 years before his passing. Their children include Janice Quarles Pettaway (Curtis), and Alfred B. Quarles, II. (Marilou), and five grandchildren, Dana (deceased), Curtis, Jr., Alayna, Lourraine, and Alfred, III. She was predeceased by her 6 siblings James, Gerald, Herb, Harry, Dora and Ruth, and leaves to cherish her memory one sister-in-law, Joella Benson (Gerald), and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, long-time friends, and others whose lives she’s touched.

Her favorite scripture was Philippians 3:13-14, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended; but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”