William Earl Ozier

Mr. William “Wil” Earl Ozier passed on Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at the age of 66 peacefully in his home. He was born January 5th, 1958 in St. Louis, Missouri to Rachel Lee King and Joseph Thomas Ozier, Sr. He was the youngest of 8 children. He was the loving husband to the former Tammy “Nzinga” Frank, married for over 35 years with 4 children: their first born, Naima, and the triplets, Ama, Dalila, and Ajani. He worked as an insurance premium auditor for over 30 years, retiring in 2017 at the age of 59 from Summit Insurance, where he had worked for 10 years.

As the youngest of 8, Wil learned a lot from his siblings. Throughout his life, he was motivated by love and compassion for his family. He was reading by the age of four, growing up in a house filled with books, encyclopedia sets, and voracious readers.

Wil graduated from Soldan High School in St. Louis in 1976. Like his sister Carol, Wil scored highly enough on his eighth grade intelligence evaluation test to study as a “co-op student” in high school, splitting each school day between Soldan and the trade school O’Fallon Technical High School.

Wil loved music, everything from John Coltrane to The Temptations to Donald Duck’s “Mathmagic Land.” When he was 14 years old, his older sister Nettie gifted him her guitar. He was a quick study. He enjoyed basement jam sessions with his friends as a young teenager. He was ambitious and determined. He continued performing live classical music, jazz, R-n-B, and funk during and after his college years. He attended Berklee College of Music in 1978, then transferred to San Francisco State University in 1980, where he took a considerable amount of Africana Studies courses. He graduated in 1984 with a Bachelor's of Music. He produced his first jazz vinyl album in 1985. He continued to enjoy music later in life, often spending time producing electronic beats or noodling on his keyboard, bass, or guitar. He called himself a proud “digital immigrant,” experimenting with computer music beginning in the early 2000s.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wil moved from St. Louis to Boston to San Francisco. He traveled briefly to Tokyo, Japan, in the mid-1980s before settling in San Francisco. Donning a bright red mohawk and earrings, Wil took pleasure in the San Francisco club scene and jazz scene. Wil and his long-time wife Tammy first met at San Francisco State in 1980, reconnected in winter 1985/1986, and married in 1988 in Oakland, California.

A faithful man, Wil chose to serve our one true God through the path of the Lukumi Orisha religious tradition. After first being introduced to the tradition in 1985, Wil was initiated as a priest of Chango in 1998 under the guardianship of Cyril “Skip” Butler and Gladys “Bobi” Cespedes, adopting the priesthood epithet Oba Aina (“King of Fire”). Since he loved music, he enjoyed learning and teaching Orisha music, and he played many of the percussion instruments for Orisha praise music, including the congo drums, shekere, and the cowbell. He and others in his Atlanta spiritual community would even gig together, to deepen their spiritual worship and communal connection. He studied the Yoruba divination system of odu and received obe in 2022. He was also a spiritualist who honored his ancestors with consistent care. Wil was the owner of Silekun, Inc. (which means “To Open the Door” in Yoruba), which he used to channel many of his passions, including selling educational books on the Lukumi tradition.

Oftentimes, friends of Wil’s children would whisper, “Wow, your dad is so cool,” after meeting him. Not only was Wil a caring, present, guiding, and wonderful father to his four children, Wil always cared about uplifting all youth. He was a father figure to more than just his children. He actively volunteered at his children’s schools, recognized and respected by both teachers and students throughout elementary, middle, and high school. He was a mentor for the rites of passage program called Egbe Iwa Odo Kunrin/Binrin. He liked sharing books and educational games with any youth he would be around to encourage them to keep their minds stimulated.

A strategic thinker, Wil loved teaching strategy through chess. He learned how to play chess when he was 8 years old by drawing the pieces on torn up pieces of paper. He loved playing with his own father, including playing long-distance chess matches through the mail. Wil became president of the chess club in high school, and would go on to teach all of his children how to play his favorite game. He enjoyed teaching others to play chess, and enjoyed a game with anyone who was willing to learn. That does not mean he would take it easy on you, though. Near the end of his life, he launched his very own chess club where he taught children in the community how to play, strategize, and win games.

Since 1996, he was a longtime resident of Stone Mountain, GA, serving as president of his neighborhood association for over 20 years. He was a master gardener, helping with community gardens in and around Stone Mountain. He even crafted his own edible landscapes at his homes. He had a special interest in medicinal herbs and spiritual plants, and enjoyed growing his own food and studying local foliage.

He was a beast in the kitchen and on the grill. He took pride in making black beans that rival a Cubana abuela just as much as he took pride in bringing good quality St. Louis barbecue to the A. Wil was a true foodie, showcasing his delicious fried turkeys, smoked wings, vegan pesto, and sourdough breads for friends and family on Facebook. He loved showing his love through food.

Wil was preceded in death by his parents, Joseph and Rachel; his sisters, Joyce Ann Ozier and Carol Denise Ozier; and his brother Joseph “Chinch” Thomas Ozier, Jr. He is survived and mourned by his wife, Tammy Ozier; his 4 children, Naima, Dalila, Ama, and Ajani; and his living siblings, Keddist Sellassie, Jay Ozier (Anita), John Ozier (Sheila), and Nettie Ozier; his sister-in-law Dannett Frank; his godparents Cyril Butler and Gladys Cespedes; spiritual sisters, Mtamanika Beatty and Stephanie DeBerry, and a host of other relatives, godchildren, and friends.