Willie Ray Edmiston

WILLIE R. EDMISTON PASSED ON OCTOBER 21, 2023

Willie Ray Edmiston (affectionally known as Ray) was born in Grenada, MS on June 27, 1943, to Odies Washington and Hadie Arenza Collins Washington. She was the fourth of eight children, five daughters and three sons. She moved to Nashville, TN in 1962 to attend a trade school where she met Norman Hamilton III. They married and went on to have four children, three boys and one girl.

In 1971, she moved to an apartment in south Nashville, TN. Soon afterwards, a couple who had just moved from Chicago, IL to Nashville, TN knocked on her door. They spoke to her about the Kingdom that we pray for in what’s commonly called the Lord’s Prayer. The hope of living in a paradise earth free from all the troubles that plague mankind resonated with her. In 1974, she dedicated her life to Jehovah God, the maker of that promise. She made a commitment to spend at least seventy hours per month in this activity in her later years. She was faithfully sharing that hope of Kingdom rule uniting the earth and making it a paradise right up to the last week of her life.

Ray, or Ma Ray, as some called her, was a loving, compassionate, generous person. She loved making others happy and comfortable. People found her easy to talk to because she was an emphatic listener. These qualities made her a friend to many. She moved from Nashville, TN in 2015 to Athens, GA where she demonstrated these same qualities and endeared herself to another community.

Her brothers, Thomas and Robert Washington, her sisters, Martha Nell Washington and Beulah Kenney, and her daughter, Vicky Arenza Moore (Howard-deceased), preceded Willie Ray Edmiston in death.

She leaves behind her brother Will Odies Washington (Lou-deceased), two sisters, Lucille Rimmer (Emmitt), and Joan Rice (Willie-deceased), her sons, Norris B. Hamilton (Penelope), Richard T. Hamilton (Michelle), and Ron C. Hamilton, eleven grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. She was loved by all.

Her final years spent with the Athens Central congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses, ATHENS, GA were filled with activity. Her volunteer spirit enabled her to enjoy many privileges spending time serving others. She was loved and cared for by many. She will be dearly missed. We look forward to seeing her when Jesus ‘’brings to nothing the one having the means to cause death’’, and ‘’all those who have exercised faith in him will come to life’’. (Hebrews 2:14; John 11:25)

A memorial service will be held Friday, November 10, 2023, at 12:00 p.m., at the Central Athens Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses, 1005 Oglethorpe Ave., Athens, GA 30606.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank the dear friends who made it their goal to help our momma during the final years of her life be as enjoyable as possible. Self-sacrificing friends in the Athens Central Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses and the compassionate team of nurses, CNA’s, social workers, and the doctor at Amedysis Hospice Care took such diligent care of momma and were a real support. Dear friends like these are brothers (sisters) born for times of distress. (Proverbs 17:17)