Obituary

Willie Kasandra “Chi Chi” McGee

Visitation will be held on Friday, December 16, 1:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., at Old Agency Baptist Church, 1115 N. 24th St. W., Muskogee, OK.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, December 17, 11:00 a.m., at Blvd. Christian Church, 1700 W. Shawnee St., Muskogee, OK 74401, followed by interment at Warrior Cemetery.

On February 1, 1962, with the watchful eye of God and her midwife grandmother, Lelia Smith and William Simmons welcomed into the world a beautiful baby girl.  They would name her after her father and grandfather, Willie Kasandra Smith, she would be lovingly called Chichi by family and friends.  Chichi was reared in Taft.  Attending Taft Public School under the direction of Mr. Springs, Chichi graduated from Panther Nation in the Class of 1980.  She has always been proud of her school, her town and its legacy.

After graduation, Chichi worked different jobs, however the job she landed that she was very qualified to do was a car salesperson.  She could sale a car to a blind man and once she did.  The way she approached selling cars was easy, give the customers what they wanted.  When she ended that career, she started working for the Town of Taft as the billing clerk for the water department.  It was a job she loved.  It gave her an opportunity to interact with her community.  Chichi was also a volunteer fighter for the town.  As a way to keep a tradition that her mother, Honorable Mayor Lelia Foley Davis started in 1974, Chichi was the coordinator for Taft’s Annual Memorial Day Parade and she also spearheaded all activities for the town during the four day extravaganza.

In life you meet that person who is destine to be a part of your life forever. While working at Unarco met Darren McGee.  When Chichi met Darren Jerome McGee in 1990, they were destine to be together for life.  Their courtship lasted for nine years but in 1999, Darren asked Kasandra and her son, James to become a family.  On December 14, 1999, the two became one.  To this union, one beautiful daughter was born, Starla Darneisha McGee. Their family continued to grow with grandchildren, James Jr., Gage, Captain, Caprice and Eric all whom Chichi loved with every fiber in her body.

If you knew Chichi you knew that her favorite saying was, “Who wouldn’t serve a God like This?!” Her walk with God started at First Baptist Church Taft, Oklahoma under the leadership of Rev. Woodrow McBride. She did the usual things in the church that young people often participated in like choir, plays, usher and BTU. Her grandmother, Canzaty Smith along with her mother, Lelia Smith made sure she was well grounded in the word of God. But as she grew older, her walk with God became more prolific.  Life trials and tribulations required her to seek God’s face.  Once she began to seek Him, she began to believe in Him and when she began to believe in Him, she trusted His word wholeheartedly.

“She’s a bad mamajama just as fine as she could be,” is a great way to describe Chichi. She LOVED fashion.  High-priced, low-priced, no –priced, gifts or otherwise, she loved to look great.  Animal print and pearls was who she was and who she will always be known for.  As her health began to fail, she made several of her family members promise her that when God called her home, she would be fly in her final resting place.  Chichi was a realist with a heart of gold.

Chichi was met at the gates of heaven by her earthly father, Willie Simmons; maternal grandparents, Willie and Canzaty Smith; paternal grandparents, Modest and Hubert Simmons; stepfather, Earl Davis; brother, Mark Smith and a sister, Mia Simmons.

Cherishing her life, legacy and love for eternity will be her husband; Darren Jerome McGee of the home; mother; Lelia Davis; son, James Dion Smith and daughter, Starla Darneisha McGee; grandchildren, James Smith Jr., Gage Smith, Captain Smith, Caprice Smith and Eric Anderson; siblings, Starla (Ricci) Phillips, Canzathy (Vincent) Thompson, Derrick Smith, Quentin Simmons, Dionna Davis, Monique Ray, Lamont Simmons, Lisa Williams, Lyric Johnson, Erica Lofton and  Jerry Simmons; uncles, Sylvester “Buddy” Smith and Andrew (Arcena) Simmons of Tulsa, Oklahoma, Floyd Smith of Taft, Oklahoma and Joe Simmons of Detroit, Michigan; aunts, Rillastine Wilkins of Muskegon Heights, Michigan and Emma Joyce Gaines of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Along with a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.