March 8, 1927 – Jan. 6, 2016

NATCHEZ — Services for Willie Harris Jr., 88, of Natchez, who died Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, at Glenburney Nursing Home, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at George F. West Sr. Memorial Chapel at West Gate Funeral Home.

Burial will follow at Sunset View Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of West Gate Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until service time Saturday at the funeral home.

Mr. Harris was born March 8, 1927, in Bolivar County, the son of Willie Harris Sr. and Mary Ann Earls Harris.

He was retired from Caterpillar as a millwright.

He was a member of New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Peoria, Ill., where he lived until September 2015. He enjoyed playing bingo, gardening and helping people.

Mr. Harris was preceded in death by his parents; four sisters, Annette Harris, Bertha Brown, Lillie Toney and Rosa Lee Sims; and nine brothers, Richard Harris Sr., Curtis Harris, Eddie Harris, Earl Harris, David Harris, Henry Harris, Joe Lewis, L.C. Lewis and Patrick Harris.

Survivors include one son, Rydale Gipson; two grandchildren, LaSheatha Gipson and Cantrell Gipson; four brothers, Freddie Harris and wife, Rebecca, James Harris and wife, Olivia, Johnny Harris and wife, Betty, and Ricky Harris; three sisters, Phyllis Felder and husband, Huiett, Earline Fowler and husband, William, and Magnolia Lewis; special friends, Eddie Jackson, Herman Wade and Ida Davis; and a number of nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Online condolences may be sent to westgatefh.com.