Obituaries – Their Stories Live On

On Sunday, February 7, 2021, Celesta Belle Willis Lane departed this life. Born in Louisville, KY on February 27, 1929, she was the youngest of the four children (Willie Mae, James Robert, Louis, Nathaniel-deceased) born to William Owen Willis and his wife, Mattie Lee Mack Willis.

School and church activities were important aspects of her formative years. Celesta was born into a family who loved each other, who always respected the efforts of those who sided with the weak, and those who tried to better themselves and their family.

After graduating as an honor student from Central High School in 1946, she entered Louisville Municipal College of the University of Louisville on an Alpha Kappa Alpha scholarship and where she became a member of the Beta Epsilon of Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. In 1950, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. She later earned a Master of Arts Degree from the University of Chapel in Chapel Hill, NC.

After leaving Louisville in 1950, she was employed as a caseworker with the Department of Public Welfare in Baltimore, MD, and later worked at the General Accounting Office in Washington, DC.

In 1952, she married Arthur L. Lane, a Goldsboro native, then a lawyer in Washington, DC. To that union two children, Ardra and Michael, were born.

In 1957, the family moved to Fayetteville where Attorney Lane established a law practice and in 1959 she became a social studies teacher in the Fayetteville City School System.

The family joined First Baptist Church with the original pastor being Dr. C.R. Edwards, the current pastor is Rev. D. Culbreth, Senior Pastor, and Dr. Cureton L. Johnson, Pastor Emeritus, and became active members. She taught Sunday School, served as Principal of Vacation Bible School, and joined Senior Retired Adults.

Her social and civic activities include Links, Inc., the Democratic Party, and Board of Directors Cumberland County Coordinating Council on Older Adults, Inc. She later transferred her Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority membership to the Zeta Pi Omega chapter in Fayetteville, NC. She reached the level of a "Diamond" with a membership of 75 years. She would have been extremely elated to know that Vice-President Kamala Harris was also a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

She retired from teaching after 28 years of service. She later relocated to Beckley, WV to live with her daughter in 2014. She joined Heart of God Ministries under "Watch Care" with Bishop Fred T. Simms. She was actively involved in activities at the Raleigh County Commission of Aging.

She leaves to mourn her passing, one brother, 95 years old, James R. Willis, Attorney of Cleveland, OH; cousin,95 years, Robert Willis of Atlanta GA; both children, daughter, Ardra Lane Brandon of Beckley WV and son, Michael Darryl (Roberta) Lane, of Fayetteville, NC; 4 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; 4 special caregivers; Janice Hairston, Dorothy Mayo, Emily Oglesby, and Della Lewis and a host of other relatives and friends.

She is not with us now and yet she will still be with us because "to live in the hearts we leave behind, is not to die" Funeral service will be 1:00PM Thursday, February 11, 2021 at the Ritchie & Johnson Funeral Parlor Chapel, 748 S. Fayette St., Beckley with Bishop Fred T. Simms officiating.

Friends, while wearing gloves and masks and observing social distancing, may call one hour prior to the service.

Email condolences to ritchie-johnson@suddenlinkmail.com.

For more information visit ritchieandjohnson.com.

For service and burial information in Fayetteville, NC visit wisemanfuneralhome.com