WEST POINT, Ga. (WTVM) – Bethlehem Baptist Church in West Point was flooded with people as they gathered to say their final farewell to the mayor of LaGrange who passed away on Feb. 16, Reverend Dr. Willie Edmonson.
There was standing room only at the church for the man well respected by the community he served in various capacities.
The homegoing service was on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
“We have a void right now. We have a loss. We have an emptiness, a brokenness here in LaGrange because our giant, our pioneer, Pastor Edmonson is no longer with us,” said Angela White Fannin, who live in LaGrange and said she knew the Mayor.
Shortly before 10:15 a.m., LaGrange residents and city employees lined the streets on Ridley Avenue for the funeral procession of Mayor Willie Edmonson.
Kay Durand, a former LaGrange councilor, and Fannin were on the sidewalk to see the hearse carrying his casket along with police and fire officials.
“Today is a really sad day for this community. We lost someone who has given his heart and soul to this community,” Durand said.
“He was the pillar in this community. He was our pioneer. He united this community, LaGrange, together,” said Fannin.
The procession bean at from Lakes Dunson Robertson Funeral home to Bethlehem Baptist Church in West Point. GA.
“I hope he is finding his rest now because he certainly has earned it,” said Durand.
Following the motorcade, people lined up outside Bethlehem Baptist Church, where the former mayor pastored, to say their final goodbyes.
“It’s packed in there. There’s obviously family. There’s friends locally. There’s a lot of pastors. There’s a lot of political friends in there as well,” said Coleman Foss, who used to work with Mayor Edmonson.
Throughout the funeral were songs of encouragement for the family, words of reflection, and many tears shed as they prepared to lay funeral home owner, long-time pastor, and LaGrange’s first black mayor to rest.
One pastor Reverend Raymond Cochran from Phenix City said he knew Mayor Edmonson as a child.
“He’s just like a son to me. When he was a boy, he played music. Fine young fellow,” he said. “The world never will be the same no more after W.T. Edmonson. A great young man, a great pastor, great preacher, so great until…. W.T. Edmonson was so great until every where he went people loved him.”
The love for the former mayor was shown through words, actions, and the number of people that filled the church to honor him and his legacy.
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