Vanessa Dale Banks

Vanessa Dale Banks was born on September 20, 1953, in Birmingham, Alabama, to the late Corine Juanita Walker and Douglas Banks. She later grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where the foundation was laid for the strong, expressive, funny, and loving woman her family would come to know and cherish.

Vanessa was an excellent cook and an avid reader from childhood. She especially loved Danielle Steel novels and could lose herself in a good book. Reading remained one of her greatest joys until dementia eventually took that ability from her. Although the disease changed many things, it could never erase the stories, laughter, personality, and love Vanessa had already poured into the lives of those around her.

And Vanessa had personality.

She was hilariously funny, extremely expressive, and always had something to say. She had her own collection of sayings that those who knew her will never forget. Ask Vanessa where she was going, and you might hear, “I’m going to see a man about a dog.”

Vanessa loved people, and she especially loved family. She loved entertaining and was happiest with a house full of people, good music playing, laughter filling the room, and probably a card game somewhere nearby. She was an excellent card player who could hold her own—and then some—in a game of Spades or Bid Whist.

She loved '70s music and R&B, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! Her favorite color was blue.

And anybody who knew Vanessa knew one more thing: Vanessa loved her a cigarette! It was simply one of those unmistakably Vanessa things that her family will smile about whenever they remember her.

Vanessa attended True Gospel Missionary Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, where she was part of a community of faith.

Above all, Vanessa believed in love and loyalty, values she instilled in her children and demonstrated throughout her life.

Anyone who truly knew Vanessa knew that her love came with personality. She had a way of giving you a piece of her mind and a piece of her heart—sometimes in the very same breath. She loved deeply, cared fiercely, and would do anything she could for the people she loved.

Vanessa could cuss you out, fuss at you, and love on you all in the same conversation. That was just her. Her love wasn't always quiet or delicate. It was honest. It was fierce. It was protective. And it was unmistakably Vanessa.

Vanessa departed this life on September 23, 2026, just three days after celebrating her 73rd birthday.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Corine Juanita Walker and Douglas Banks; her beloved son, Ché Banks her sister Rosemary Banks and her grandson Deron Rattliff Jr.

Vanessa leaves to cherish her memory her children, James Douglas Banks, Dantéa Banks Rattliff (Deron), Tanisha Banks, Shaquana Banks, George Wright, and Jeffrey Wright(Shaun); her grandchildren, Caprita Bell, Marquan Banks, Zysean Stafford, Javion Smith, Aniya Stafford, Jade Rattliff, Aryana Williams, Bradycheyenne Phillips; and her great-grandchildren, Lashon Banks and Saniya Banks.

She also leaves to cherish her memory her siblings, Douglas Banks (Sheila), Angela Deanne Harris (Joseph), Terri Alexander, and Shawn Williams (Derek), along with a host of nieces, nephews, extended family members, church family, and friends whose lives were made richer by knowing her.

Vanessa's life cannot be summed up simply by the years between 1953 and 2026. Her life lives in a house full of people, a competitive game of Spades or Bid Whist, an old-school R&B or gospel song, a good book, a familiar saying that suddenly makes everybody laugh, and in the fierce love and loyalty she taught her family.

Her voice may be quiet now, but anyone who knew Vanessa can still hear it.

And somewhere, when somebody asks where she's going, her family will probably always hear her answer:

“I’m going to see a man about a dog.”

That was Nessi.

Funny. Expressive. Fierce. Loyal. Loving. Unforgettable.