Deacon Willie Folkes recalled at funeral Mass

Friday, Jan. 27, 2017

AMERICAN FORK — On the snowy morning of Jan. 23, people gathered at Saint Peter Catholic Church to say a final goodbye, to show their respects and to share memories of Deacon Willie T. Folkes, 79, who died Jan. 18.

At the age of 19, Deacon Willie joined the Army, and was stationed in the Panama Canal zone, said Michael Glenn, Faithful Admiral of the Knights of Columbus Utah Valley Ensemble. Glenn drove a couple of Coast Guard ships through the Canal Zone on his way to Vietnam, he said, and his “favorite Willie story” is that the deacon was a driver for either a colonel or a general, “and he had to drive coast to coast every day.” 

Deacon Willie, who was ordained on 2004, served at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, at St. Peter Parish in American Fork and at St. George Parish in Saint George.

 “Deacon Willie was a great friend; he was a man that I always admired and there was always warmth in his heart,” said Deacon Dale Dillon, who remembered that every time that he saw Deacon Willie, “he had a smile on his face and a warm hug to give you.

“I became a deacon after he did, and I tried to model myself after the service that he gave to our brothers and sisters in Christ,” added Deacon Dillon, who assisted at the funeral Mass.

Known by many for his famous cake walk, Deacon Willie always invited everyone to participate in that, said Donna Horvath, a St. Peter parishioner, with a big smile on her face.

“What an amazing man. Everyone that attends St. Peter’s will remember the cake-walking king. He didn’t care if you didn’t want to do the cake walk, if Willie said ‘You are walking the cake walk,’ you did it. Not just walk, you had to dance and walk. He was one of the funniest guys I have ever met. You could run but you couldn’t hide from the king of the cake walk,” said Horvath, adding that she will always thank him for all the love that he shared with many. “He will be truly missed.”

Presiding at the funeral Mass on Jan. 23 were Father Oscar Picos, pastor of Saint George Parish, and Father James Blaine, pastor of Saint Peter.

Both directed heartfelt words to Deacon Willie’s family.

“I remember the beautiful service that he always gave to the Lord,” said Fr. Blaine, recalling that it was Deacon Willie who welcomed him to the parish when he was assigned there in 2000. “He was very dedicated to the Church. … Now the Lord has now called him to himself. It’s time; his service is over. … Willie’s life of service was very beautiful. He was very dedicated to the Church.”

As a deacon, Folkes was very personable, and his faith was strong, Fr. Blaine said. “We can be assured that Willie will be sharing in that gift of eternal life.”

To the family, Fr. Blaine said that it is difficult when a relative or a friend dies, but the congregation is praying for them, and “Willie will be sharing the gift of eternal life now.”

Fr. Picos shared a memory from his first year at St. George Parish. “We had a party with children, and they invited me to play a game and I decided not to do it, and then I looked up and I saw Willie jumping with the children, so after that day he told me, ‘You know, Father, because I was jumping, now I can’t walk.’… He was really funny,” said Fr. Picos, who also offered assurances that Deacon Willie will be always remembered.

Albert Folkes III, Deacon Willie’s youngest brother, remembered an occasion when they were teenagers and someone hit him on the head with a golf club, and he was grateful to his older brother because “he went right after him, saying ‘you don’t hit my brother.’ He saved me,” said Folkes, with very bright eyes.

Deacon Willie Folkes was laid to rest at Camp Williams.