Kalas Funeral Home & Crematory

Willie Lee Zanders was born on August 29, 1949, in Quincy, Florida to the late John Aaron and Corine R. (Frison) Zanders. Willie was the second of seven children born to the marriage. In the mid-1950s the family relocated to Rochester, New York, where Willie attended Rochester public elementary schools and graduated in the class of 1967 from James Madison High School. In high school Willie was an avid lettered varsity cross-country runner who loved to run with lifelong friends John (deceased) and William (Bill) Darden. Willie loved to dress the part and hang with his buddies Walter Larkin, Leo Gray, and Nate Greggs, doing what typical teenage boys did in those formative years of the late sixties. After graduation, Willie enrolled in Houston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas, but after completing several semesters, and out of a sense of duty, he opted to serve his country and enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was stationed in several locations in the United States, South Korea, and England. During one of his tour of duty assignments in England, he met Ms. Alicia (Margaret) Pearce. As fate would have it, he instantly fell for what would come to be the love of his life. After a period of courtship, he asked for her hand in marriage, and they were wed on Aug. 8, 1981, in Birmingham, England. One son, Philip Aaron Zanders, was born of their union. They were reassigned to Bolling AFB in Washington, D.C., and the Defense Logistics Agency at Cameron Station, in Alexandria, Virginia, where he would serve until his retirement from active service in 1991. Willie loved to travel and see the world and he loved to have a good time with family and friends, whatever the occasion. And he took every opportunity he could to exert his position and opinion as ‘older brother’. Although it became difficult for him to travel in his later years, he never forgot his roots, and made sure that he stayed in constant contact with his family roots in Quincy Florida, especially with close first cousins Louis (Sharon) Zanders, Rosetta (Tommy) Haywood, and Joe (Daphne) Zanders.

Willie is preceded in death by his Parents, John Aaron and Corine R. (Frison) Zanders; one sister Peggy Reed; and one brother Dwayne A. Zanders. Left to mourn his passing are his wife Alicia and his only son, Philip Aaron Zanders; three brothers, Johnny Zanders, Samuel Zanders, and Tyrone Zanders; two sisters, Myrna L. Zanders, Benita E Zanders; nephews Marshal Zanders and Royce Simmons; nieces Tammara A. (Demetrius) Jackson, Taneisha (Neon) Walton; and numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Willie Lee Zanders

Willie Lee Zanders

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