Yvonne Marie Willis was born October 19, 1955 in Chicago,
IL she was born to Caleb & Carrie Colton. As a child Yvonne
was a very energetic little girl and very acquistive about life.
Her quest for life could only be summed up with one word
DETERMINATION. This word would constantly consume
Yvonne with not only doing youre best but putting the effort in
to do youre best. As a little girl she had something special not
even she knew the powers of her efforts that would equate to
this word called DETERMINATION.

Yvonne was united in holy matrimony on September 23, 1978
to Leo Willis. Yvonne and Leo was like two peas in the pot.
Where you saw one the other one was not far behind. The
love the two have for each other is unexplainable. Yvonne
Willis passionate about her husband even leading to his belief
in God. They were and are the perfect couple that showed
loved for each other every single day.

Their union was blessed with three sons Delmar, Leo
Michael, and Jamaal. She leaves behind 5
granddaughters and 3 grandsons. Her siblings Caleb,
Marilyn, Ralph, Michael, and Anthony and a host of
nieces and nephews.

Yvonne accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior and was
baptized in 1981 at Indiana Avenue Pentecostal Church.
She was ordained as an Evangelist in 2011. Yvonne was

the most God fearing person you could have ever met.
Expressing her life for God and ever facet of her life and
others.
She obtained her formal education at Harold Washington
College where she received her Associate’s Degree, Chicago
State where she obtained her Bachelors Degree in Education
, and her Master’s Degree in Psychology at St. Xavier
University. Yvonne had a passion for Education. She always
believed in pushing for higher education which lead to her
many success in education. Yvonne was a self-starter,
believing anything you wanted to know was just a book away.
Her passion for life was breath taken, wanting to experience
everything life had to offer. Even after completing her degrees
you could find Yvonne taken classes you wouldn’t imagine
she would take. Something far from what she held her
degrees in. Her thirst for knowledge was beyond anyones
comprehension.

She was an elementary school teacher at Cook Elementary
for 20 years. She believed in teaching the younger generation
and pouring her heart and should into her work. Yvonne
believe this was not a job but and honor to reach and teach
children. For 20 years she gave it her all retiring June 24,
2018 from Chicago Public School system.

Yvonne loved to go shopping. You could catch her at the
mall on any given Saturday. She must of won shopper of the

year from several malls. MR. Wills might have thought
differently especially when he saw the bank statements and
the amount of closet space she left him. Yvonne would go
store to store creating in her head the outfits she would wear
one day. It was a sight to see. Yvonne reaching a status to
where she was finally enjoying the fruits of labor. See,
Yvonne was a humble
person, would give you literally the shirt off her back and the
bread off her table. Seeing Yvonne achieve what she
achieved and knowing where she came from was heart
warming. It’s a story you wouldn’t understand unless you
were there. To see her progress over time and achieve what
she sat out to achieve is truly heart warming.

Yvonne had a loving husband and three loving boys. She
would often challenge her son to be the best and let
education steer your success. Yvonne also was a person who
loved to win no matter how trivial the stakes were or high they
were. Many times she would wrestle with her boys, letting
them know she still has it and will never lose it. Yvonne
aways stated, “life is chess not checker”. Honestly that how
she lived her life as a queen.
She was a very out going person, she loved to be out living
life. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and
friend who always put her family and friends first. She was
always there for those who needed her. She was very proud
of her family. Yvonne Willis will truly be missed by many.