Creasie Louise Williams Pennix

On April 16, 1934, Creasie Louise Williams was born to Roy and Eloise Holmes Williams in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. The 6th of 15 children, she was lovingly named after her maternal grandmother, Creasie Spearman. She was raised as a member of St. Paul AME Church and knew the Lord. Intelligent, shy and fiercely loyal, she formed life-long friendships with many classmates of Peake High School, and special family ties with her immediate siblings. Curious and excited about the possibilities of a life outside of Arkansas, Creasie graduated from Peake High School in 1952 and left for California where she attended Business School and began to hone her skills for her future careers. However, finding love at 19 years of age, she married Ozzie W. Pennix II and started her own family, first giving birth to Ozzie, then Bonnie and finally Aaron. Later, her youngest child, Letitia, was born out of her loving union with her partner, Lonnie L. Richard. Creasie was an independent woman and mother. She began to forge her career within the business world while raising her four children as a single mother, but able to provide for them well beyond the necessities of life, exceeding the equivalent of a two-parent home. She remained dedicated to her Christian beliefs and brought up her children also knowing and loving the Lord while seeking him at The Church of Religious Science, Belmont Baptist Church and also The Kingdom Hall. Creasie sought the Lord. She joined The Hughes Aircraft Corporation in El Segundo, California and quickly rose to a supervisory position in the defense department which designed and assembled components for radar equipment for fighter and spy jets. She also worked, simultaneously, as a Real Estate Specialist, who successfully represented the numerous purchases, sales and investments of real property for herself, family, friends and the public at large. Additionally, she juggled many more jobs in order to obtain a financially secure future for her children, as she also assisted many family and friends, in many ways, along the way. Through the success of her life and career, she maintained close ties to her family and loved ones and enthusiastically enjoyed entertaining with them at parties and get-togethers, fish fry’s, bar-b-que’s, card games, excursions to Las Vegas casino’s and travelling cross-country in her various motor homes. Creasie’s energetic personality, her giving nature and her pursuit for the next best thing was a magnet for those who wanted her energy to rub off on them. She had long ago overcome her shyness and was widely known for her quick wit and charm. She enjoyed dressing up for glamorous events just as much as she enjoyed dressing down in order to dredge through foliage for a better fishing spot at the water’s edge. Retiring after 30 years at Hughes Aircraft, Creasie left Los Angeles for good and returned her ailing mother to Arkadelphia. During the several years of her residence here, she took advantage of her real estate knowledge and began purchasing multiple properties within Arkadelphia’s borders. She became a force to be reckoned with by investing in, and renovating everything from single family residences, apartment buildings and the well-known Townsend House. Creasie provided multiple opportunities to many professional home contractors, renovators, handymen, homeowners and tenants by creating housing and work for many residents of this community. Her name was synonymous with the phrase, “Real Estate Investor,” as she blazed a trail in establishing herself as a highly successful business woman, both in California and then again in her hometown of Arkadelphia. However, her zest for life and adventure led her to purchase yet another home in Las Vegas, Nevada and she relocated once again in 1992. She enjoyed many of the activities that Las Vegas had to offer, so she resumed her real estate career there, as well as an enjoyable position in the middle of the action, as a casino, Cash Payment Supervisor. And with a youthful spirit, she continued to work and play with the exuberance of a teenager, all while continuing to travel, garden, sew and cook the best tasting southern food from her soul. In her later years, Creasie was slowed down only because of a stroke which partially paralyzed her body, but not her spirit. She relocated to Marietta, Georgia in 2011 with her youngest daughter, Letitia, for recuperation and strength-building, while regaining a self-renewed strength for life. But in November 2013, Creasie asked her daughter to return her to her home in Arkadelphia to be closer to her family, friends and community which had first inspired her to seek out a well-rounded and fulfilling life. She rededicated herself as a member of St. Paul AME Church and reestablished close ties to her family and friends there. At 80 years of age, on December 19, 2014, Creasie was called upon by God’s Holy command to leave this temporary life and begin her Eternal Life. She is preceded in death by her son, Aaron D. Pennix; parents, Roy and Eloise Williams; brothers, Roy Williams Jr., James Williams, U.S.P. Williams, Johhny Williams, Benjamin Williams, Rev. F. R. "Rixie" Williams, Tyrannus Williams and Tyree Williams; sisters, Ethel Williams-Shaddock, Katie Williams-Gray, Earl Lee Williams-Fisher and Patricia Williams-Fisher. Creasie leaves behind three children; Ozzie W. Pennix III, of Las Vegas, Nevada; Bonnie L. Pennix, of Las Vegas, Nevada; and Letitia E. Richard of Los Angeles, California (currently Arkadelphia, Arkansas); step-daughter, Patricia Ann Pennix-Mallory of North Hollywood California; grandson, Daren D. Pennix of Inglewood; great-granddaughter, Kayden Pennix and great-grandson, Cruise Pennix; brothers, Joshua of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Charles Ray (Tara) Williams of Arkadelphia, Arkansas, Logan (Linda) Williams of Los Angeles, California, Tommy (Wanda) Williams of Lynwood, California; sisters, Annie Williams (Henry) Helms of Arkadelphia, Arkansas and Veronica (Billy) Easter of Meridian,Mississippi; over 50 Nieces and Nephews; innumerable great nieces and nephews and a host of additional family and friends, including; Fannie B. Lee, Gloria Dunn Gilstrap, Carolyn Jane, Virginia Maude Buckley and Francille Johnson to name a few.